Uncertainty
by MissWonka
Summary: Sequel to "Confusion". A few months after Willy and Ronnie's wedding, Ronnie gets some life changing news. Now the chocolatier must face his biggest challange yet, and his friendship with Charlie will be put to the ultimate test.
1. Chapter 1: Unexplained Symptoms

**Disclaimer: **I own zero, zippa, nadda, nothing in this story!

**A/n:** Surprise! Those of you who were following my **Confusion** story know that I said there would be a sequel...but that I also said I probably wouldn't start posting it until September due to needing to take a break between stories and then going on vacation for the month of August. Well, I discovered that sometimes it's pretty darn impossible to keep a writer from writing! :) Also, for some reason, having a chapter or two of a story written and then having to take a break for awhile really gets my creative juices flowing! So I think it will actually work out even better this way. I plan to get one other chapter out before going on vacation next month, and then hopefully I will get loads of inspiration for the rest of the story during my month of R&R!

With the relatively boring stuff out of the way, the first question most people have about CATCF stories is "which movieverse is it from?" Normally I don't answer that question in my fanfics, as I feel it's fairly obvious pretty early on in all of my fanfics which movieverse (and which Wonka!) I'm writing. This time, however, I feel I should take the time to do some explaining, since for this fanfic, the answer is not so clear-cut. In terms of the enviornment and history and such it's mostly based on the 2005 movie (with perhaps a few things from the 1971 movie thrown in here and there). Figuring out how to write Willy, however, presented a bit of a challange to me. The Wonka in my **Confusion **story was primarily Depp Wonka-based. Since this is the sequel to that story, I figured that I should probably try to write him that way here, too.

The way I want his personality in this story makes that a bit of a problem, however. I want to present Willy as being more warm and loving. And let's face it, that's not exactly something that Depp Wonka is! Wilder Wonka is definitely the warmer and more loving of the two Wonkas (not that he doesn't have his cold and even downright creepy moments, but you actually see a warm, loving side of him whereas you don't see that with Depp Wonka at all really). So looks-wise, Willy has the appearence of Depp Wonka in this story, just as he did in **Confusion**. Personality-wise, on the otherhand, he's more of amalgam of both Wonkas. I also will be using quotes from both Wonkas (which I hope won't get too confusing!). I guess you could call him Wildepp Wonka! Basically, you can imagine him anyway you like though. Obviously you'll need to ignore anything I say about his physical appearence if you want imagine him as Wilder Wonka, though! :)

As always, please review. I LOVE reviews, and they inspire me to write more as well as let me know whether I'm on the right track.

Okay, enough with the novel of an author's note! I will let you get on with the actual story!

* * *

><p>Veronica Wonka sighed in exasperation. It was a Tuesday afternoon in mid-November, and she was beginning to think the clock was broken. Although Ronnie (which was what everyone that knew her called her, as well as the name she preferred to go by) was working at the recently opened "Scrumdiddlyumptious Bakery", a job that she ordinarily loved, time seemed to be crawling.<p>

In fact, Ronnie had felt like that most of the week. Truth be told, she hadn't been feeling like herself in recent weeks. Normally, Ronnie had even more energy than her husband, world-famous chocolatier Willy Wonka (the "Scrumdiddlyumptious Bakery" was the newest edition to what Ronnie affectionately referred to as his "chocolate empire"). Lately, however, she tired easily.

She also found herself having moments of irritability that she couldn't explain, and there were a few times that she had burst into tears for no reason. And as if all that weren't enough, a new unpleasant symptom had surfaced that day: nausea. Ronnie wasn't quite sure if that was related to her other symptoms, though. The nausea wasn't that bad, and she hadn't eaten very much that day. So she figured that maybe her stomach was just complaining about having been empty for so long.

Just as Ronnie was checking the clock for the umpteenth time, her mother and co-baker, Sylvia Wells, walked into the kitchen (they traded between counter duty and kitchen duty, and it had been Ronnie's turn for kitchen duty). "So, how are things..." she started to say. One look at her daughter, however, stopped her in mid-sentence. "Ronnie, is everything all right?" she asked. Ronnie couldn't lie to her mother, but yet she didn't want to mention how she was feeling, either (she didn't know why, but she just felt like keeping her symptoms to herself for the moment). So she settled for saying, "You know, with all the noise that the ovens and stuff can make, I think I've gotten a trifle deaf in one ear."

Sylvia shook her head. "I think you've been hanging around Willy too much," she chuckled. "Well, he IS my husband," Ronnie pointed out. "Ronnie, that's beside the point, and you know it. You haven't seemed yourself the last several days. Usually you're running around with more energy than I thought it was possible for a person to have. But now you seem to have hardly any," Sylvia said gently. "Mom, I'm fine. I HAVE been quite tired lately, but I've probably just been working too hard or something," Ronnie said.

Sylvia didn't believe her daughter for a second, but she knew that she wasn't going to get any further information out of her right then. So she changed the subject. "Would you like to have supper at my place tonight after we close? I've already phoned Willy, and he said that he'd love to if it's okay with you. I'm assuming it is, of course, but figured I should ask anyway," she said (Sylvia lived in the apartment above the bakery, and Willy and Ronnie often ate supper with her). "Sure. I need some food in me after not eating for most of the day, and you always cook the best stuff," Ronnie replied. "Good. I'm making one of your favorites," Sylvia said. "I can't wait to see what it is," Ronnie said eagerly.

**WWWWWWWWWWWWWWW**

Three incredibly long hours later, closing time finally came. "Finally!" Ronnie said as she flipped the sign in the window to the "closed" side. After taking a quick look around to make sure everything was set for the next morning, she stepped outside, locked the door, headed up the stairs to her mother's apartment (Sylvia was already at the apartment, having left work early to get supper started) and rang the doorbell.

Just as she'd expected, the door was answered not by Sylvia, but by Willy (the chocolatier usually arrived at Sylvia's apartment before Ronnie did when they ate supper there).

"How were things at the bakery today?" he asked after they kissed hello. "Great as usual," Ronnie replied, grateful that Willy apparently hadn't noticed the tiredness that she was sure must be showing in her.

"It doesn't look like the same thing can be said for you, though," Willy said, his voice laced with concern. "So much for him not noticing!" Ronnie thought. "I'm okay," she told Willy. Her husband, however, wasn't fooled for an instant. "Starshine, you're not feeling well, are you?" he inquired. "I have been feeling very tired lately," Ronnie admitted.

Before Willy could press Ronnie further about how she was feeling, Sylvia joined them in the living room. "Supper's ready," she said. As the trio headed into the kitchen, Ronnie noticed the smells of their supper for the first time (before, she had been too preoccupied talking to Willy to notice anything other than him!). They told her that Sylvia had cooked seafood. Ordinarily, seafood was among Ronnie's all-time favorite foods, and the smell of it was one of her favorite smells. But that night she WASN'T enjoying the smell. Instead, it was making her stomach churn and she found that she just wanted it to go away. "You haven't eaten much today, so your stomach is bound to do some funny things," she reminded herself.

Much to her dismay, her reaction to the smell of the food only got worse when they reached the kitchen. It was now overpowering, and she wasn't quite sure how she was going to be able to eat anything. "Things will probably be better once you've got some food in your stomach," she silently told herself. "It's seafood smorgasboard tonight, so help yourselves," Sylvia said, indicating the counter, which was covered with various dishes of seafood. Taking a deep breath, Ronnie walked over to it and grabbed a plate. Then she looked over the food items, trying to decide what to have. There were scallops, shrimp, fish, and a few other things.

It only took Ronnie about two seconds to realize that she wasn't going to be able to eat any of it. The sight of the food, combined with the now overpowering smell, made her stomach turn over (well, that's what it felt like anyway!). With horror, Ronnie realized that her nausea was about to manifest itself in a very visual way. She hurriedly set down her plate and ran for the bathroom, arriving there just in time to kneel on the floor and lean over the toilet bowl as her stomach relinquished what little food it had been holding.

Once she was certain that her stomach was under control for the time being, she flushed and got up. She felt rather lightheaded as she stood up, but she shrugged it off. Although that was another symptom she'd be been experiencing, she figured it was just due to her tiredness (and considering what had just transpired, she figured that in this instance, it was probably just an unpleasant side effect). So she paid it no mind and went to the sink to rinse her mouth out (thankfully, Sylvia kept a glass in the bathroom!).

With that done, she stepped into the hallway...and found Willy and Sylvia waiting for her. Sylvia didn't even give her a chance to speak. "Obviously you aren't just tired, Ronnie," she said firmly. Ronnie knew that she could no longer hide her mystery ailment. "You're right, I'm not. I haven't been feeling all that great for a few weeks now," she confessed. Sylvia shook her head. "Why didn't you say anything?" she asked. "I thought it was just some minor bug, or possibly even a weird allergy or something. I didn't really see the point in mentioning what I thought probably wouldn't amount to much," Ronnie said.

"I wouldn't call this 'not amounting to much'," Sylvia said gently. "Neither would I. I started feeling nauseous earlier today, but I figured it was just due to my not having eaten very much and that it probably wasn't even related to my other symptoms. I thought it would get better once I ate something. But when the very smell and sight of what are normally my favorite foods made me get sick, I knew I was mistaken," Ronnie admitted.

Mentioning food made Ronnie guiltily realize that Sylvia's and Willy's meals were probably cold by now. "Now I've taken you away from your meals and they're probably nice and cold. I'm sorry," she apologized. Willy, who had been silent up until now, put his arm around his wife's shoulders. "Don't be sorry, starshine. There are worse things than cold seafood, and you're more than worth it," he assured her. Ronnie wanted to kiss him, but decided she'd better not just in case whatever she had was contagious (and she hoped that he hadn't already caught whatever it was from their earlier kiss!). So instead she said, "Thank you, my sweet candy man."

Then, to her extreme mortification, she let out a huge yawn. "I see you are still quite tired," Willy chuckled. As embarrassed as she was, Ronnie had to admit that her husband was right. The simple fact was that although she had felt tired earlier, now she was absolutely exhausted. "I am indeed," she said. "Then we'll go home so you can get some much-needed rest," Willy said. But Ronnie shook her head. "You go and finish your supper first. Just because I can't eat doesn't mean you have to go without supper," she insisted.

"Are you sure? Because I can always grab something at the factory later," Willy assured her. "Yes, I'm sure. I can rest on the couch while you finish eating," Ronnie said firmly. "'Kay then. I promise not to take too long," Willy said. "Take as much time as you need. Really, I'll be all right," Ronnie told him (tired as she was, she didn't really mind waiting, as she wasn't exactly looking forward to riding in the glass elevator in the condition she was in!).

Her words did not reassure the chocolatier, however. Willy knew that the only place Ronnie belonged right then was in bed, and he didn't think it was a very good idea for them to stay at Sylvia's for even another minute. He also knew, though, that his wife wasn't about to take "no" for an answer. So, against his better judgment, he helped her get settled on the couch. Then he reluctantly headed back to the kitchen.

"Hello, Willy. I popped our meals into the microwave for a few minutes, so they're warm again," Sylvia greeted him (she had headed back to the kitchen when Willy helped Ronnie to the couch. Willy was pretty sure she had just used the meals as an excuse, though. He knew that, most likely, Sylvia had just wanted to give he and Ronnie some time alone!). "Thanks," Willy said as he sat down in the chair across from her. "I feel really bad for Ronnie. I suspect that whatever is ailing her is bothering her a lot more than she's letting on," Sylvia told him.

"I think so, too. She clearly hasn't been herself for awhile. She's been trying to hide the fact that she's unwell, but it's obvious to everyone in the factory that something isn't quite right with her. Mrs. Bucket found her asleep in the Chocolate Room in the middle of the day this past weekend, Charlie told me that she snapped at him for no apparent reason yesterday, and the Oompa Loompas are getting concerned because she hasn't been joking around with them lately like she normally does. But whenever we ask her about those things, she insists she's fine and has probably been working too hard," Willy said.

Sylvia sighed and shook her head. "That sounds like Ronnie, all right. It has never been easy for her to admit when she's worried about something and/or isn't feeling well. It's also hard for her to admit when she might not be able to cope with something on her own. I think she feels like she has to be strong all the time and that she shouldn't make others worry about her," she said. "That's about as ridiculous as an Oompa Loompa fighting a snozzwanger and expecting to win! Nobody should have to be strong all the time!" Willy exclaimed.

"I know, but Ronnie's just that way. I'm sure that's probably mostly my fault, since I can be very much that way myself," Sylvia said. "I feel bad that I didn't confront her sooner. When she said she was fine and probably just overworked and all, I believed her. After all, falling asleep in the middle of the day, snapping at someone for no reason, and not joking around as much as usual doesn't necessarily mean you're sick! Actually, what with the snapping and all, I thought that maybe she was just..." Willy trailed off, worried he might sound like he was complaining about women.

Luckily, Sylvia didn't seem to think that was the case at all. "PMSing?" she suggested. "Yeah, that. But then this morning, not long after we got up, she suddenly started crying out of the blue. When I asked her what was wrong, she said she didn't know. I don't know why, but that made me sense that maybe she wasn't so fine after all. Then when she came to your place just a bit ago, I knew for certain. I could just tell by her face that she wasn't feeling well," Willy said.

Sylvia didn't answer him at first. She was thinking about what Willy had told her about Ronnie's symptoms, along with what Ronnie herself had mentioned...and the conclusion she was coming to was one she could scarcely believe. From what Willy and Ronnie had said, she knew that Ronnie was tired, moody, and nauseated. Then, of course, there was the fact that Ronnie had thrown up, and that she had mentioned that it was the smell and sight of the seafood, normally one of her favorite types of food, that had made it happen. That combination of symptoms was very familiar to Sylvia, because she herself had experienced it several years earlier. Remembering what the cause of her symptoms had been, the corners of her mouth turned up in a smile. "Oh, my goodness! Could it be?" she said softly to herself.

"Could what be?" Willy asked. Sylvia wasn't sure what to say. She hadn't really been counting on him hearing her (which was the whole reason she had spoken so softly!). More importantly, she knew that for the time being at least, it would probably be best for her to mind her own business and keep her suspicion to herself! "Oh, nothing. Just thinking out loud," she finally said. Willy didn't look convinced, so she decided to change the subject. "Well, hopefully we can at least convince her to go to the doctor soon. If this has been going on for at least a few weeks, obviously it's not just a minor bug and she needs to get it checked out," she said.

Willy nodded. "When we go home tonight, I'm going to do what I can to talk her into contacting Sally tomorrow," he said (Sally was the Oompa Loompa who served as Ronnie's personal physician). "Good. And by all means, don't let her come to work tomorrow! Right now she needs her rest!" Sylvia said. "Don't worry. There's no way I'm going to let her go to work when she's in this condition!" Willy assured her. Sylvia smiled at her son-in-law. "Ronnie is very lucky to have you in her life," she said. Willy felt his cheeks flush. "Thank you," he said.

"You know, I think that the core of Ronnie's issue with not liking to admit when she's sick is that she just doesn't like admitting when SHE needs to be taken care of. I think in her mind, it's supposed to be she who takes care of others, not the other way around. Part of that is from me I'm sure, but I also think that part of it is from being single so long. I know she felt proud of the fact that she was a strong woman and was able to fend for herself. Unfortunately, that same pride caused her to forget that EVERYONE needs to be taken care of sometimes," Sylvia told the chocolatier.

Willy grinned. "You could say the same thing about me, except for the strong woman part," he said. Sylvia laughed. "I think that's part of why you two are such a good match," she said with a grin. By now, the two had finished their dinners. "It was great talking to you, Sylvia, but I think we'd better get home now. The sooner Ronnie is in bed, the better!" Willy said as he stood up. "I agree," Sylvia said.

The duo headed out into the living room so that Willy could collect Ronnie. "Starshine, its..." Willy started to say. But Sylvia cut him off by putting a finger to her lips and gesturing towards the couch. Willy looked over at it and saw immediately why Sylvia had motioned him to be quiet. Ronnie was fast asleep.

* * *

><p><strong>An: **Well, I hope you enjoyed this first chapter of **Uncertainty**! I am hoping that this story will be as enjoyable to you as **Confusion **was.

**Chapter 2 Preview: **Willy has to figure out how to get Ronnie back to the factory without waking her, and Ronnie deals with the frustrations of her ailment...as well as a strange midnight craving!


	2. Chapter 2: Questions and Cravings

**Disclaimer: **I don't own a darned thing in this story!

**A/n: **Well, here is chapter 2 of **Uncertainty**. There is a fair amount of fluff between Willy and Ronnie in this chapter, so if you don't like that sort of thing, don't read it. Willy and Ronnie are not only a married couple, but newylweds (if you'll remember from my **Confusion** story, they got married in July, and I established in the first chapter of this story that it is now November. That means they have been married for just four months give or take a week or two, and that still seems like newlywed territory to me!), so it seems natural to me for them to have their share of lovey-dovey moments. Hopefully at least most of you guys feel the same way. Well, enjoy chapter 2! :) As always, a big thanks to my one reviewer for the last chapter, and please keep those reviews coming! For writers, reviews are like chocolate. Most of us can't get enough! :)

* * *

><p>"She looks so cute and innocent when she's sleeping," Willy thought as he looked down at his snoozing wife. Cute and innocent or not, though, he now had quite a dilemma on his hands. He didn't want to wake Ronnie, not when she was finally getting the rest she so desperately needed. On the other hand, he knew that spending the night sleeping on Sylvia's couch certainly wasn't going to do her any favors.<p>

So he was going to have to get her back to the factory, and there was only one way that he could think of to do so without waking her. Placing one hand behind Ronnie's back and the other under her knees, he carefully lifted her into his arms. Then he grabbed his overcoat off the coat tree and covered her with it so she'd be protected from the chilly November air.

After that was done, he headed towards the back door (there was no way he was going to walk out the front door with his wife asleep in his arms. The media wasn't aware that he had gotten married, and he and Ronnie intended to keep it that way!). Without being told, Sylvia held it open for him. "See you later, Willy. Take good care of Ronnie" she whispered. Then she looked down at her sleeping daughter. "And you need to LET him take care of you. I know you feel like you have to be strong all the time, but you don't. I'm sorry I've been such a bad example that way," she whispered to her.

"Either Ronnie or I will call you tomorrow morning to let you know how she's doing," Willy quietly told his mother-in-law. "Thanks, I'd appreciate that," Sylvia whispered. "No problem, and thank YOU for supper," Willy whispered back as he headed down the stairs to where he'd parked the glass elevator. Once inside the rather odd flying machine, he pushed the buttons to get it into the air and back to the factory, then sat down on the floor (although Ronnie was fairly light, he knew he wouldn't be doing his back any good if he stood with her in his arms the entire elevator ride).

As he looked down at his sleeping wife, he was struck by how vulnerable she looked right then. "Vulnerable, but beautiful," he thought. It had always been Willy's own private opinion that Ronnie was at her most beautiful while she was sleeping, and tonight was no exception. Her skin looked like porcelain, her brown hair hung loosely over her shoulders and added to the soft, delicate look of her face, and her ruby red lips looked as though they were made of satin. And as if that weren't enough, it seemed to Willy that she actually had a soft "glow" about her.

The chocolatier gently caressed one of Ronnie's cheeks. "You're my starshine in more ways than just one tonight," he whispered. Then he bent his head down and tenderly kissed her (considering that they hadn't exactly been abstaining from kissing during Ronnie's illness and he hadn't caught whatever it was yet, he figured she most likely wasn't contagious). To his horror, however, that action caused Ronnie to stir. He quickly pulled away, hoping that she wouldn't wake up. Much to his relief, she didn't. Instead, she moaned softly in her sleep and reached her hands towards his face. Obviously she had been somewhat aware of the kiss despite being asleep and wasn't pleased that Willy had broken it so abruptly!

Willy smiled down at her. "If you don't want me to stop, then I won't," he said as he kissed her again. Unfortunately, before he had a chance to really enjoy the kiss, the elevator arrived back at the factory. "Oh, gobstopper!" the candy maker muttered under his breath. If there was one thing he didn't like about the elevator, it was that it often had the world's worst timing! Reluctantly, he broke the kiss, stepped out of the elevator, and opened the door to his and Ronnie's living quarters.

He didn't want to wake Ronnie by turning on any lights, so he took a moment to mentally visualize the layout of the small apartment. Then, using his unusually strong sense of direction (he was so good at finding his way around places that he could literally find his way around most of the rooms in the factory blindfolded!), he carried Ronnie into their bedroom.

After arriving at his destination a couple minutes and one stubbed toe later (despite his strong sense of direction, he had somehow managed to walk into a table in the hallway. Luckily, by biting down on his tongue a bit, he was able to keep himself from crying out from the pain and waking Ronnie!), he gently laid Ronnie down on their large, four-poster bed and removed her shoes and socks from her feet.

Since he didn't think he'd be able to undress her and put her pajamas on her without waking her, he opted to leave the rest of her clothes on her. "I'm afraid you'll be sleeping in your clothes tonight, starshine. I know it's not the most comfortable, but the only other option is for me to wake you up, and that's the last thing you need right now," he whispered as he pulled the covers up over her slender frame.

Now that Ronnie was taken care of, he headed over to the closet to retrieve his own pajamas and change for bed. When that task was done, he went into the bathroom and brushed his teeth. Then, instead of leaving immediately after he was finished, he picked up the trash can that was sitting near the sink. As luck would have it, Tuesday happened to be garbage day at the factory (since that was also the day the incinerator was lit). So because that night was a Tuesday night, the can was empty.

With the trash can in hand, Willy headed back out to the bedroom. He set the can beside Ronnie's side of the bed. "Hopefully you won't need to use this, but at least it beats having to make a dash for the bathroom if you DO need to get sick again," he whispered to his wife. Then he went over to his side of the bed and climbed under the covers. Once he was in bed, he gently pulled Ronnie toward him until her head was resting on his chest and she was cradled in his embrace. "Goodnight, my sweet bon bon," he whispered.

**WWWWWWWWWWWW**

Shortly after midnight, Ronnie woke suddenly. The first thing she noticed (other than the fact that she was now in bed with Willy at the factory rather than resting on her mother's couch, that is) was that, by some miracle, her nausea had dissipated quite a bit. The second thing she noticed was that, after having gone most of the day without eating anything, she was extremely hungry. Without really thinking about what she was doing, she got out of bed (which wasn't an easy task, considering that Willy still had his arms around her! "At least he's a fairly heavy sleeper!" she thought). Then she put on her slippers and headed down the hall to the elevator.

Still not really thinking about what she was doing, she stepped into her husband's prized glass invention and pressed the button for the Inventing Room. She had the elevator path from her and Willy's living quarters to the Inventing Room so well memorized that even in the dark, she knew which rooms she was passing. "I wonder if the squirrels are dreaming about sending Veruca down the garbage chute?" she chuckled as the elevator passed the Nut Room (Willy had told her, in great detail, all about the Golden Ticket winners' trip through the factory).

Not too much later, the elevator arrived in the Inventing Room. Ronnie switched on the light and began looking around. "I know it's around here somewhere!" she said. She passed by the gobstopper tank, the gum machine, the hair toffee maker, and a few other machines. Then, finally, she reached the part of the Inventing Room where she knew she'd find what she was looking for, the storage portion of the Inventing Room (since Willy never knew what he might invent next, he kept a supply of various possible ingredients in the Inventing Room at all times).

"There you are!" she exclaimed as she spotted the thing she had been looking for. It was a vat of marshmallow cream, and she practically ran over to it. She removed the lid and plunged her hands into the large container. Then she happily began shoving handful after handful of the marshmallow cream into her mouth. "Yum! I don't think I've ever had marshmallow cream this good before, not even here in the factory!" she said to herself as she eagerly ate the soft, sticky substance. Right then, she didn't think she could ever get enough of it. "Now I know how the Oompa Loompas must feel about cocoa beans!" she remarked. Just as she was about ready to stick her entire face into the vat, a voice suddenly spoke behind her. "Starshine?" it said.

Even though Ronnie knew who the owner of the voice was almost immediately, she just about jumped out of her skin. "Willy, don't sneak up on me like that! You just about gave me a heart attack!" she exclaimed. "I just about gave YOU a heart attack? I had no idea where you were, and since it's not like you to leave our apartment in the middle of the night, that worried me. The fact that you're ill at the moment wasn't exactly reassuring, either," Willy replied.

Ronnie smiled at her husband. "I guess we're even, then," she said. "I guess so," Willy said, smiling back. Then, after a few minutes of silence he added, "I must say, I didn't expect to find you in the Inventing Room eating my marshmallow cream!" Ronnie laughed. "I'll bet you didn't. I woke up and discovered that not only was my nausea pretty much gone, but that I had a sudden craving for marshmallow cream," she explained.

Willy shook his head. "She's gone from not being able to even look at food without getting sick to gorging herself silly on marshmallow cream in a matter of hours. Honestly, I'll never understand women!" he thought. For her part, Ronnie was dismayed to find that her mystery ailment was rearing its ugly head again. As she straightened up from the marshmallow cream vat (she had only just now been able to make herself stop eating the stuff!), the room started to spin and she felt faint for the second time in less than twenty four hours.

Noticing that his wife looked like she was about ready to collapse, Willy grabbed hold of her arms and steadied her. "Don't worry, buttercup, I won't let you fall," he assured her. "I hate this mystery illness, I hate it, I hate it, I hate it!" Ronnie burst out suddenly. Willy removed his hands from her arms and wrapped his own arms around her. "I know, starshine, I know," he said. To the candy maker's surprise, Ronnie responded by pushing him away. "No, you don't know! You don't have any idea what I'm going through!" she snapped. "Maybe if you weren't so secretive about it I'd have more of an idea," Willy pointed out.

"Well excuse me for wanting to keep some things to myself!" Ronnie shouted. Then, before Willy could say or do anything in response, she burst into tears. Cautiously, the chocolatier wrapped his arms around his wife once more. This time, Ronnie didn't push him away. Instead, she practically collapsed into his embrace as loud sobs tore from her throat. Willy didn't say anything, but simply held her as she cried. Finally, Ronnie managed to calm down and find her voice. "I'm sorry I yelled at you, Willy," she said.

"It's all right, starshine. You've had a rough few weeks," Willy said. Instead of directly replying, Ronnie shook her head and said, "I'm a mess!" Willy knew that now was probably the time to suggest she talk to Sally. But given the state she was in at the moment, he wasn't sure how she'd react to that suggestion. He decided to take his chances. "At this point, it's a pretty safe bet that whatever it is that's ailing you is not going to just go away on its own. I think it's time you got a check-up from Sally," he said gently.

Ronnie nodded. "You're right, I do need to get checked out. I'll call Sally later today," she said. "Good. With any luck, you'll be feeling better soon," Willy said. "I sure hope so," Ronnie replied. "Are you still feeling woozy?" Willy asked. Ronnie knew exactly what he was getting at. "No, the spell has passed, thankfully. I can make it to the elevator," she said. So the couple headed for the aforementioned contraption (after making a brief stop at one of the sinks in the Inventing Room so that Ronnie could wash the marshmallow cream off her face and hands!), where Willy pressed the "Recall" button (that button was a very special one. It could recall the last place the elevator had gone prior to its current location and send it back there).

It wasn't long before they were back in their bedroom. After changing into her pajamas, Ronnie climbed into bed beside Willy. "Thanks for not yelling at me for raiding your marshmallow cream stash, by the way," she told him. "I was just glad to find you. And it was kind of cute to see you enjoying the cream so much!" Willy replied. Ronnie grinned at him. "There's something I enjoy even more, though," she said as she cuddled up to her husband.

**WWWWWWWWWWWW**

The next time Willy and Ronnie awoke, the sun was streaming through the curtains on the window. "Good morning, starshine," Willy said once they were both awake. Ordinarily, Ronnie would have replied "the earth says 'hello'" (that was how they always greeted each other in the morning). But that was the last thing on her mind that morning. Her nausea, unfortunately, had returned with a vengeance. Much to her chagrin, she realized she was about to have another "episode" and grabbed the trash can from beside the bed.

As she retched into the plastic container, she felt a very familiar pair of hands holding her long hair away from her face. When she was finished, she set the can back down on the floor and lay back against the pillows. "I guess I don't need to ask if you're feeling any better this morning," Willy said, his voice full of concern and empathy. Ronnie shook her head. "No, you don't. Gosh, I wish this would just go away!" she replied. "I know," Willy said soothingly as he picked up the trash can. Before taking it into the bathroom, he planted a soft kiss on his wife's forehead. "I'll be right back, bon bon," he told her.

When he returned, he was carrying the now clean can in one hand, a glass of water in the other and had a towel draped over his arm. He returned the can to its place next to Ronnie's side of the bed and then handed the towel and water glass to Ronnie. Gratefully, Ronnie wiped her mouth off with the towel and then took a sip of water to rinse out her mouth. "Thanks. I especially appreciate you cleaning out the can. I mean, talk about a disgusting job!" she said to her husband. "You're worth it, believe me," Willy replied, reaching out his hand and stroking her hair. Ronnie sighed with contentment. She loved it when Willy caressed her hair like that! Willy smiled. "I'm glad I can at least make her feel a little better," he thought.

Still stroking his wife's hair, Willy picked up the phone from his nightstand and dialed the number of Charlie's WonkaPhone (the WonkaPhone was one of their last inventions, a special phone with the sole purpose of allowing them to communicate with one another no matter where they were in the factory). As he expected, his apprentice picked up on the first ring. "Morning, Willy," the boy's cheerful voice said. "Morning, Charlie. Listen, Ronnie isn't feeling well this morning, so she and I won't be coming to breakfast," Willy explained. "Boy, she just has not been having an easy time of it, has she?" Charlie commented. "No, she hasn't," Willy replied. "Please tell her I hope she feels better soon," Charlie said. "I will, thanks," Willy answered. He intended to hang up then, but Charlie had other ideas.

"Willy, I don't mean to alarm you, but the Oompa Loompas think someone may have sneaked into the Inventing Room last night. When they went in there to get things ready for the day, they discovered that the lid was off of the vat of marshmallow cream. They know it was on yesterday when they stopped work for the night, so they figure it had to have happened sometime either late at night or very early in the morning," the boy said.

Willy chuckled. Technically, of course, the Oompa Loompas were right. Someone HAD sneaked into the Inventing Room. But it certainly wasn't a person they would have ever suspected! "That was my fault, actually," he told his heir. Now it was Charlie's turn to chuckle. "And just what, may I ask, were you doing with the marshmallow cream at such an odd hour? Or in the Inventing Room for that matter?" he asked. "You really need to stop mumbling," Willy replied. "Well, at least the mystery is solved," Charlie said. "Yeah. I'll try to meet up with you at some point today, but I don't know exactly when that will be," Willy told him. "Okay, see you later," Charlie said as they hung up.

Willy replaced the phone on its cradle and turned his attention back to Ronnie. "It seems that you forgot to put the lid back on the vat of marshmallow cream," he said. Ronnie's cheeks turned pink. "Oops!" she said. "I think you had Charlie and the Oompa Loompas thinking a spy had somehow gotten in there!" Willy laughed. Ronnie shook her head. "Leave it to me to send the factory into a panic!" she exclaimed. "Hey, don't worry about it. It's not like I've never done that myself!" Willy assured her.

Ronnie grinned. "I guess we're two of a kind, then," she said. Willy responded by leaning over and kissing her. Then he reached for the phone again. "I promised your mom that one of us would call her this morning to let her know how you're doing. Then I'm going to call Sally and ask her to stop by later and hopefully get to the bottom of whatever it is that's going on with you," he explained. "I'm glad. At this point, I just want answers," Ronnie said. Willy kissed her again. "I know, and I'm going to do whatever it takes to help you get them," he said as he prepared to make his calls.

* * *

><p><strong>An: **I'll bet by now you guys are probably going, "Just tell us what's going on with Ronnie already!". And some of you are probably thinking more along the lines of, "Just tell me if my suspicions about Ronnie are right already!" Well, be patient. That gets explained in the next chapter, which I will be posting sometime within the next couple of weeks. I decided it wouldn't be very nice of me to leave you guys hanging while I go on vacation, so I decided to revise my orignal plan and get the first THREE chapters published before I leave rather just the first two. Also, I hope that you're enjoying Willy's various nicknames for Ronnie as much as I've been enjoying come up with them! :)

**Chapter 3 Preview: **We finally find out what's causing Ronnie's symptoms, and Ronnie finds herself with some very special news to tell Willy. :)


	3. Chapter 3: An Unexpected Answer

**Disclaimer: **None of the stuff in this story is owned by me!

**A/n: **Well, I told you I'd have chapter 3 posted before I left on vacation, and here it is! Just a few notes first, though. First of all, although I have done my best (and will continue to do my best) to portray Ronnie's symptoms and her condition accurately, I am by no means a medical expert. So please allow me a bit of creative license! After all, the point of fanfiction is to write a good story, not neccesarily to get everything "real-world accurate" down to the last detail! :)

Continuing on that same theme, I realize that Oompa Loompa physiology is probably different than that of humans. However, I figure that since she's Ronnie's personal physician, Sally's probably done a lot of studying on human physiology, thus why she is able to so quickly figure out what's going on with Ronnie. And finally, a more interesting note: I promise I'm not going to leave you waiting for the next chapter any longer than neccesary. I actually already have it written and so will post it as soon as I possibly can once I get back from vacation.

Oh, and as always, a HUGE thanks to my one reviewer for the last chapter. As I've said before, reviews are like chocolate- we writers can't get enough of them! So please review! Now on with the story! :)

* * *

><p>Never in her life had Ronnie been so relieved that the Oompa Loompas were some of the most prompt creatures that she knew. Sally had just arrived to examine her, having agreed to come and see Ronnie immediately when Willy called her. "Maybe now I can finally start getting this thing under control!" Ronnie thought. Sally had taken a seat next to the bed and was now looking at Ronnie, concern showing in her brown eyes.<p>

"From what your husband's told me, you have been having quite a miserable few weeks, Mrs. Wonka," she greeted her patient (despite Ronnie's repeated assurances that it was fine for her to call her by her first name, she insisted on calling her by her title and surname since she was her boss's wife. It also, incidentally, had not been easy for Willy to convince her that it was okay for her to go into his and Ronnie's bedroom!).

"That's for sure," Ronnie said. "Hopefully we'll have you on the road to recovery soon. I figured we'd start by compiling a brief history of your symptoms. In the best case scenario, I will be able to figure out what's going on with you, or at least narrow it down, from that," Sally told her. "That sounds like a good plan to me," Ronnie said. Sally pulled a notepad and a pen out of the supply bag she'd brought with her. "All right, then. Why don't we start at the very beginning. When did you first start feeling sick?" the diminutive doctor asked, flipping open the notepad.

Ronnie thought for a few minutes, then said, "I don't really remember exactly when this all started, but I'd have to say right around the beginning of the month". "Okay, that's a good start. Now please tell me what sort of symptoms you were feeling then, and how they've progressed or changed," Sally said. "Well, the first thing I noticed was that I was suddenly a lot more tired than normal. Then, not long after that, I started having spells where I feel dizzy, faint, or both. At around the same time, I started having mood swings. Sometimes I start crying for no reason, and within the past two days I've managed to pretty much bite both Charlie's and Willy's heads off, again for no real reason," Ronnie explained, pausing so that Sally could write everything down.

"Anything else you've noticed?" Sally asked. "Yes. Yesterday I started to feel nauseous, and since then I've thrown up twice. The first episode was trigged by the sight and smell of seafood, which is normally one of my favorite types of food, and I don't really know what triggered the second episode. Also, around midnight this morning I woke up with an immense craving for marshmallow cream...and I satisfied it," Ronnie replied. "So no change in the severity of symptoms and no change in symptoms in general other than new ones cropping up?" Sally inquired. "That's correct. Some days are worse than others, but I haven't really noticed any worsening of any of the symptoms over time," Ronnie told her doctor.

When Sally didn't respond for a couple minutes, Ronnie looked over at her to try to figure out why...and was surprised to see that the tiny woman appeared to be trying to hide a smile. "That's about all I can tell you," she said, thinking that maybe Sally was waiting for her to tell more about her symptoms. "Are you sure? There's nothing else you can remember about how or when this started? Even things that may have seemed rather insignificant at the time might help us figure this out," Sally said, not doing a very good job at keeping her spreading grin concealed.

Ronnie knew that Sally had a point. The more thorough of a history she could give her, the better. With that in mind, she closed her eyes and took a mental trip back in time. At first, she didn't remember anything other than what she had told Sally. But as she thought more, she found herself remembering two things that she had initially brushed off.

"Actually, I DO remember more now that you ask me. Just a little over a week before Halloween, I had minor abdominal cramping. The best way I can describe it is that it was very similar to PMS cramps. And at first I thought that's what they were, since my monthly curse, as I call it, was due around that time. So I just ignored it," she explained.

Sally wasn't even trying to hide her grin any more. "That is most interesting. I am especially intrigued by the fact that you used the phrase 'at first'. Am I correct in my assumption that something happened to make you think that the cramps may have been caused by something other than what you first thought?" she replied. "Sort of. It was actually something that DIDN'T happen rather than something that DID," Ronnie said. "Let me guess. Your 'monthly curse' as you refer to it, never came," Sally answered.

Ronnie nodded. "You may think it strange that I would just dismiss something like that, but I'm not exactly the most 'regular' woman on the planet, if you know what I mean. Frankly, I tend to be all over the map in that department, and I have even been known to miss a month once in awhile. So for me that's actually normal, not something to get concerned about," she told Sally.

Sally closed her notepad and set it down. "I think I have a pretty good idea of what's going on with you now," she said, her grin now practically stretching from ear-to-ear. Ronnie, however, didn't really hear her. Talking in detail about her symptoms had caused the pieces of the puzzle to begin to come together for her. Alone, nausea, tiredness, dizziness, near-fainting spells, throwing up and mood swings might not mean much. Even just two or three together might not have meant anything more than a run of the mill illness or even simple exhaustion. Only a handful of conditions, however, could cause all of them to occur together. And when the cramping and the missed "curse" were added to the mix, there was really only one logical explanation.

"Oh my gosh!" Ronnie exclaimed as she sat bolt upright in bed (up until that moment, she had been lying in bed, semi-propped up on the pillows). Unfortunately, she had done so a little too quickly and started to feel faint. She practically fell back against the pillows and closed her eyes. "You need to take it easy, Mrs. Wonka," Sally gently reprimanded her patient. "That was stupid of me, I know. It's just that I finally put two and two together," Ronnie explained. "And you got four, right?" Sally said, her eyes twinkling. Ronnie just smiled and nodded. "Well, then, I'll conduct a brief basic exam just to assess your general health, and then we'll take care of the labs that will tell us if our suspicions are correct," Sally said. "Sounds good to me," Ronnie answered.

It didn't take Sally very long to perform her examination. With that and the lab work done, Sally had left the room. Now all Ronnie could do was wait. Sally had told her that she'd try to have the results of the labs ready by that evening at the latest, but hopefully by the afternoon (in an ordinary doctor's office, of course, the lab work would have needed to be sent out to an external lab and it would have taken a few days to get the results back. But the fact that Sally did NOT need to do that and that there weren't several other patients whose labs needed analyzing enabled her to get lab results rather quickly). Ronnie, however, didn't know how she was going to be able to wait that long!

There was one thing she DID know, however: If what she and Sally suspected was true, then life at the factory would be changed forever. "With any luck, it will be a change for the better," Ronnie said aloud, her hand subconsciously drifting downward and coming to rest on her stomach. She couldn't help but grin as she thought about what might very well be in her and Willy's future. "I wonder if Willy ever dreamed that he might one day be creating something far more special and wonderful than candy?" she mused.

At that moment, Ronnie's thoughts were interrupted by a knock at the door. "Uh, Willy, you don't have to knock," she called out, feeling rather confused. The response was a chuckle followed by the person who knocked opening the door and stepping into the room. To Ronnie's surprise, it wasn't her husband who entered the room. Instead, she found herself looking into the warm brown eyes of Nora Bucket. "Well, I certainly wouldn't expect Willy to knock on his own bedroom door...but the last time I checked, I wasn't him," Charlie's mother laughed.

"Yeah, other than the fact that you both have brown hair, you don't really look like him," Ronnie chuckled. "Considering the fact that he's the opposite gender as me, I'd sure hope not!" Nora hooted. "It just never even occurred to me that you might stop by. My mind just isn't working the best right now," Ronnie explained. "Considering all you've been through lately, I'm not a bit surprised, nor do I blame you a bit," Nora assured her. "Anyway, thanks for stopping by," Ronnie said.

"My pleasure. When Willy phoned Charlie this morning to say that you two wouldn't be coming to breakfast because you weren't feeling well, I felt bad for you. I know that you haven't been feeling the best for awhile now," Nora told Ronnie. "No, I haven't, but I'm feeling a little better now," Ronnie said. "I'm glad to hear that, and I sort of figured you were feeling better when I came into the room. With that ear-to-ear grin, you looked like Charlie did when he won the factory," she said. "I was smiling about something far better than a chocolate factory," Ronnie replied without thinking. "You seem to have taken to rubbing your belly, too," Nora remarked. Ronnie quickly removed her hand from her abdomen. "I didn't even realize I was doing it," she said.

"So what, may I ask, were you smiling about?" Nora asked. Ronnie thought fast. There was no way she could tell Nora what she and Sally suspected. If their suspicions were true, then she had no business telling Nora about her condition before she told Willy! She also knew, though, that Nora was a very hard person to fool. She didn't particularly want to lie to her friend, either. Finally she said, "Sally just came and examined me and we did a little lab work. Now I'm just waiting for the results, and Sally says she thinks that I'm not sick and that with time, I'm going to be just fine." Technically, of course, that was the truth. It just wasn't the WHOLE truth!

Much to Ronnie's relief, while Nora looked a bit suspicious, she accepted her explanation and let the matter drop. Instead of pressing Ronnie any further, she changed the subject by asking "So, will you and Willy be joining us for supper tonight?" "Probably not. I think I'd kind of like for it to be just he and I together here for supper," Ronnie replied. Although she DID want to have supper alone with Willy, that wasn't the only reason she'd declined Mrs. Bucket's offer. She also declined because she was starting to get any idea of how to tell Willy about her condition if her and Sally's suspicions proved true.

"That's fine with..." Nora began. A knock at the door cut her off. This time, since it was mid-afternoon and her brain was functioning a bit better, Ronnie knew it most likely wasn't Willy. "With any luck, that will be Sally with my test results," she told Nora. "If it is, I'll get out of here. In fact, I'll go ahead and get the door for you," Nora said to her friend. She then walked over to the door and opened it, revealing a beaming Sally. Although Nora desperately wanted to know what was making Sally so happy, she kept her promise and quickly left the room.

As soon as enough time had elapsed for Nora to be safely in the elevator and out of earshot, Sally walked over to her patient. "Well, Mrs. Wonka, there's really only one thing for me to say...congratulations!" she exclaimed happily. "You mean it's really true?" Ronnie asked, feeling somewhat dazed. "I think you knew all along deep down that it was," Sally said, still grinning away.

"I know, but having a gut feeling is one thing. Knowing for sure is another. I mean, don't get me wrong, I'm happy and all. It's just going to take a little time to digest, so to speak," Ronnie said. "I can certainly understand that. After all, we're talking life-altering news here," Sally responded. "That's for sure! By the way, please don't tell any of the other Oompa Loompas or the Buckets. I don't want the news getting out until I have a chance to tell Willy," Ronnie said.

"Don't worry. I had no intentions of doing so, and even if I DID want to, I couldn't. I may not run the most conventional of clinics, but I still have to abide by patient confidentiality laws," Sally assured her. "That's good to know. By the way, do you happen to know whether Willy is in the Inventing Room right now?" Ronnie inquired. "I don't believe so. He and Charlie, from what I've heard, have their hands full with the Square Candies that look Round at the moment. For some reason, they've suddenly started hopping all over the room! The candies, I mean, not Mr. Wonka and Charlie!" Sally told her.

Ronnie laughed (both at the rather funny issue with the candies and at the image of Willy and Charlie hopping around the factory!). "If it's not one thing with those candies it's another!" she remarked. "Put it this way, I don't think you need to worry about Mr. Wonka being in the Inventing Room for awhile!" Sally chuckled. "Yeah, probably not. Thank you for all your help today," Ronnie said. "No problem," Sally said as she left the room.

Not more than a few seconds later, Ronnie got out of bed and put on her slippers. It was time for her to start putting her plan for telling Willy the big news into action. She headed down the hallway, pausing by the mirror. "Well, I didn't exactly plan on being pregnant just four months after the wedding. I know, I know, if I really didn't want that to happen, then Willy and I should have been more careful in that department. But considering how happy and excited I'm feeling about it, I guess I must have wanted it to happen on some subconscious level! Oh, gosh, please let Willy feel the same way!" she told her reflection.

**WWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW**

A short time later, Ronnie was busy in the Inventing Room. This time she wasn't stuffing her face with marshmallow cream, though. Rather, she was busy working on a project. The first thing she had done was ask some of the Oompa Loompas to stand guard at the door just in case the problem with the Square Candies got resolved quickly and Willy decided to pop in. Once they had agreed, she had gone over to the mixing and cooking area and began work on what she hoped would be a culinary masterpiece.

Smiling, she turned on the special "chocolate tap" that brought fresh liquid chocolate straight to the Inventing Room from the Chocolate River. "Good thing the smell and sight of chocolate doesn't make me sick!" she thought as she filled a pan with the luscious, smooth, brown liquid. When that was completed, she moved the pan over to the counter, where she added several different ingredients to the chocolate. Then she carefully poured her concoction into a mold, which she set into a special oven that also doubled as a cooling device and would finish the job of making her creation.

While the oven got to work on her confection, Ronnie busied herself with making the wrapper for the treat. She also worked on something else, something that Willy had once given away, but never received himself. Just as she was finishing up, the oven beeped. "I couldn't have timed that any better!" she remarked as she opened the door to the cooling portion of the oven and removed the now-finished chocolate bar. Then she carefully wrapped the bar up in the wrapper she had created, slipping in the extra thing she had been working on before closing it up.

With her task in the Inventing Room completed, she thanked the Oompa Loompas who had guarded the door and asked them to inform Willy that supper would be ready at 6 o'clock sharp. Then, Wonka bar in hand, she stepped into the elevator and headed back to her and Willy's living quarters. "Time for step two!" she said. Humming quietly to herself, she headed into the kitchen.

**WWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW**

Willy's day, meanwhile, hadn't been going quite so well. He was so distracted by Ronnie and her "illness" that he had spent the morning being pretty much the exact opposite of productive. He had made all kinds of silly mistakes with his various inventions. Making the exploding candy way too potent and nearly causing the Oompa Loompa who tested it to be blown clear to the moon, turning out a batch of taffy so sticky that it could almost have been used as super glue, and just about expanding the three-course dinner gum to include hair toffee extract (thankfully, Charlie had stopped him just in time to avoid turning any Oompa Loompas into blueberries with the mother of all bad hair days!) were just a few of them.

And then there had been the incident with the Square Candies that look Round. The only good thing about it was that the incident wasn't a result of Willy's absent-mindedness. No one knew what had caused it, and it had taken Willy and Charlie the entire afternoon to get the mischievous candies back under control. So when one of the Oompa Loompas told the chocolatier that Ronnie was fixing supper and would have it ready at 6 'o clock sharp, he was quite relieved. After all the stress of the day, he hadn't really wanted to eat with the Buckets. They were nice people and all, but the only person he felt like being with right then was his wife. Hearing that she felt the same way made him smile.

"_Come with me, and you'll be, in a world of pure imagination. Take a look and you'll see into your imagination..._" he sang softly as the elevator transported him from the Square Candies room to the apartment he shared with Ronnie. The tune that Willy was singing had been specially written by the Oompa Loompas as the processional music for Willy and Ronnie's wedding, and it had quickly become one of the couple's favorite songs. Still singing, he stepped out of the elevator and approached the familiar large wooden door. "_We'll begin, with a spin, traveling in the world of my creation_..."

Before he could get any further in the song, the door was flung open and he was swept into the warm, loving arms of his wife. "I thought I heard you singing out there!" Ronnie said cheerfully. Willy smiled. "You sound a lot happier than you did this morning," he observed just before capturing her lips with his own. "I am happier. In fact, I'm happier than you can imagine," Ronnie said once they'd broken the kiss. "I take it that means that your check-up with Sally went well," Willy said. "It sure does," Ronnie replied with a grin. "So what did she have to say?" Willy asked. "Well, after giving me the check-up and then doing some lab work, she determined that I'm not sick and that I should be feeling better soon," Ronnie answered him.

Willy knew that there was something that his wife wasn't telling him. "I'm not so sure I believe that. Something has to be causing all those symptoms," he said. "More like someONE," Ronnie thought, her grin growing even bigger. "All questions must be submitted in writing," she said in answer to her husband's question. Willy just shook his head. Ronnie was one of only two people who were brave enough to use his unique techniques for avoiding answering questions against him (Charlie was the other one)! "In other words, you're not going to tell me," he said. "Not yet, anyway," Ronnie said mischievously. Then she said, "Come on, let's go eat!"

Knowing that he wasn't going to get any further information out of Ronnie, Willy followed her to the dining room. When they got there, he was surprised by what he saw. The table was topped with one of their best tablecloths, which in turn was topped with their best dishes and two large lighted candlesticks. The lights were turned off, making the candles the sole source of light in the room. Ronnie also already had their supper sitting on the table, and it was Willy's favorite, chicken and dumplings.

If Willy had been at all unsure before that something more was up than Ronnie was willing to admit, now he was completely convinced. While his wife enjoyed cooking, she didn't normally use their best dishes or tablecloth, nor was it common for her to use candles as the light source for meals. "You can't fool me, starshine. Something of great significance is going on that you're not telling me," he said. "You'd better sit down and started eating or your food will get cold," was all Ronnie would say. Willy sighed in exasperation as he did what Ronnie had said. Her stubbornness could be so annoying! "But yet there's something oddly attractive about it," he thought.

The couple ate their meal in silence, something that was quite unusual for them. Ronnie seemed reluctant to say anything for fear of letting the cat out of the bag about whatever it was she was keeping from Willy, and Willy was too distracted to say anything. He knew something major had happened with Ronnie that day, and he was dying to know what it was! By the end of supper, the chocolatier had made up his mind to try to trick Ronnie into telling him her secret. But before he could even so much as open his mouth, Ronnie abruptly got up from the table and started heading into the kitchen. Willy started to follow her, but she motioned for him to stay where he was.

After what seemed to Willy like an eternity (but was in reality only about two minutes), Ronnie returned, a Wonka bar in her hand. Wearing a grin so big it could have lit up a cave, she handed the bar to her husband. Right away, Willy could tell that this was no ordinary Wonka bar. Like all Wonka bars, it had the word "Wonka" written in large letters across the front of its wrapper. But while the "Wonka" on Wonka bars was traditionally his signature, on this one it wasn't. Instead, it was Ronnie's signature. The other thing that was unique about the wrapper was the name of the bar. The wrapper was labeled: "The Ultimate Wonka Bar" In smaller text underneath that were the words, "a.k.a the Whipplescrumptious Fudgemallow Nutty Crunch Triple-Dazzle Delight bar".

While Willy had used all of the names in the subtext for bars before, he had never used them all together or the name "Ultimate Wonka Bar". He knew then that Ronnie had to have made the bar herself. He opened it eagerly, removing first the outer wrapper and then the inner foil wrapper. What he saw underneath the wrappers on top of the candy bar took him completely by surprise. "It's a Golden Ticket!" he exclaimed. Never in a million years had he expected that HE would one day be on the receiving end of one of the shiny little tickets that he had created in the hope of finding an heir!

By this point, Ronnie was looking as though she might explode from happiness. "Well, aren't you going to read the back?" she asked eagerly (the front of the ticket, of course, simply read "Golden Ticket"). Willy didn't need to be asked twice. He flipped the ticket over and began to read aloud: "Greetings to you, the lucky finder of this Golden Ticket, from Mrs. Veronica Wonka. This Golden Ticket that you hold in your hands is very special indeed. You see, you have created many marvelous and wonderful candies over the years. Likewise, you have told me that I have created some wonderful stuff. Well, now, together, we have created something far better than all the candy in the world. It's our greatest creation yet, and it is a very unique one...because we will not actually get to see it until about eight months from now." The ticket was signed "Your Starshine".

Willy's eyes widened as he realized just what the words on the ticket meant. He let out a gasp and the candy bar and ticket slipped from his hand and landed on the floor. "Well, gobstoppers and blueberry gum!" he exclaimed ("gobstoppers and blueberry gum" was a phrase he often used when he was surprised and/or really happy about something). Then, not completely sure he'd interpreted the words on the ticket correctly (he was in such a state of shock right then that it was hard for him to think straight!), he looked at his wife and asked, "Did I read that correctly? Are we really going to have a baby?" Ronnie just smiled and nodded. Then she said, "I'm glad you took the news so well. I was a little worried about that."

"Well, I'd be lying if I said I wasn't a little nervous. I'm not exactly the type that most people would think of as a father," Willy admitted. "I'm a little nervous myself, but I think that's fairly normal in a situation like this," Ronnie assured him. "Yeah, probably. But enough of that for now! This is supposed to be a happy occasion, after all," Willy said. "I'm very glad you feel that way, mon cher," Ronnie replied (both she and Willy were quite fluent in French and often used it to address each other. Sometimes they would even tease Charlie by having conversations in French in front of him...which always drove him crazy since, unlike them, he knew barely any French and so had no clue what they were saying!). Willy didn't speak. Instead, he leaned over and planted a soft kiss on his wife's belly, intending it both for her and for the precious cargo that she now carried within her.

* * *

><p><strong>An: **Well, now we finally know what's going on with Ronnie (as if most of you hadn't probably already guessed! ;))! You'll notice that she basically said on Willy's Golden Ticket that they will be parents in eight months. I am well aware that pregnancy lasts nine months (on average), not eight. However, pregnancy symptoms don't often appear right away, nor do most women find out they're pregnant until after the first few weeks have passed. Therefore, it's pretty safe to assume that Ronnie is round about one month into her pregnancy, which would mean that she has roughly eight months to go. :)

Anyway, I hope that Willy's reaction to the news was at least somewhat in character. I struggled quite a bit with how to write it. I also hope I'm not confusing you too much with my mixing of both movieverses and both Wonkas. While I started out with the intention of my Willy being a mixture of both Wonkas but the movieverse being mostly 2005 based, I've since realized that I like the 1971 version too much to only have sprinkles of it in the story. So from here on out, the enviornment will probably be a 50/50 mix of both movies (and Willy, of course, will continue to be a mixture of both Wonkas). By the way, if you're wondering what "Mon Cher" means, it's French for "my dear". It's the masculine equivalent of "Ma cherie" (like many European languages, French grammar includes both male and female "tenses" of words). Don't worry, I will always explain to you in these author's notes what any French words Willy and Ronnie speak are!

**Chapter 4 preview: **Ronnie and Willy have decided to wait until Thanksgiving (just over a week away) to announce their news to the Buckets. Things get tricky, however, when Willy starts neglecting his work to take care of Ronnie (who, unfourtnately, has what is proving to be quite a severe case of morning sickness!)...a fact that doesn't sit well with Charlie, who can't figure out why his mentor has suddenly dumped most of the work of running the factory on his shoulders!


	4. Chapter 4: Confrontations

**Disclaimer: **They don't call it Fanfiction for nothing. I don't own anything in this story!

**A/n: **I am now back from vacation (obviously, or I wouldn't be posting this!), and as promised, here is the next chapter of **Uncertainty**, ready for you to enjoy! For once, I don't really have much else to say, so on with the story!

* * *

><p>The days following Ronnie's and Willy's discovery of Ronnie's pregnancy were both busy and tricky. They were tricky because Willy and Ronnie had quickly decided that they would wait until Thanksgiving, which was a little over a week away, to announce their big news to the Buckets. Not only did they feel like that was a good time to do it, but waiting until Thanksgiving meant that they could tell everyone they needed to at once, since their parents were going to be joining them and the Buckets for Thanksgiving dinner.<p>

Waiting until Thanksgiving to make the announcement, however, meant that they had to do what they could to keep it under wraps until then...which wasn't exactly an easy task! They were doing an okay job of not outright spilling the beans, but getting the Buckets to believe that Ronnie was perfectly fine was a different story. The fact that Ronnie unfortunately still had quite a severe case of morning sickness didn't exactly help in convincing them, either (she tried her best to hide the morning sickness from them, but it didn't always work. There had been a few times when, just like that night at Sylvia's, the sight and smell of dinner made her have to run to the bathroom. Whenever that happened, she and Willy would leave abruptly, offering little in the way of explanation.)!

Within a few days, Nora, James (Charlie's father) and the grandparents (well, except for Grandma Georgina who, as usual, was pretty much off in her own world!) had become very suspicious (along with Sylvia, who didn't believe her daughter's story about exhaustion and just needing to rest being the reason she was often unable to come to work at the bakery even for a second!). They knew that Willy and Ronnie weren't telling them the absolute truth, and that something significant was going on with the newlyweds (although they were still trying to figure out what!).

Charlie, however, was experiencing a very different emotion. Willy, for reasons that his apprentice couldn't figure out, had been letting his work slide lately, and he often disappeared. So Charlie was finding more and more of the work of running the factory resting on his shoulders...and he didn't like it one little bit (the factory may have been technically his now, but he was still only a ten-year-old kid and very much needed his mentor's help to run it!)!

Whenever Charlie tried to ask Willy why he was hardly focusing on his work and why he kept disappearing, all the chocolatier would say was that he was "busy" and that there were "other things" that needed his attention at the moment. As a result, the young boy now found himself in the rather awkward position of being worried about his mentor (since his recent behavior wasn't at all like him) and being rather upset with him at the same time.

Making things even worse, he didn't know quite what to do about it. He knew he should probably talk to someone, but he made a point of not burdening his family or the Oompa Loompas with any business disagreements he might have with Willy. And he knew it would hardly be appropriate for him to tell Ronnie that he was having issues with her husband (besides which, he knew he wouldn't be able to get anything out of her as to what was going on with Willy, since she was being just as mysterious as he was!)!

Finally, Charlie decided that there was only one way he was going to be able to resolve the situation: he was going to have to confront Willy. Considering that he hated confrontations, he was not looking forward to it at all. He found himself constantly looking for excuses to put it off. He even pondered abandoning the plan and either figuring out another, more appealing way of resolving his issues with Willy or simply putting up with his mentor's rather odd (even for him!) behavior. If he was lucky, perhaps whatever was causing Willy's change in behavior would end soon and he would be back to his old self.

But then something happened that made all of those thoughts fly right out of Charlie's head, and convinced him that confronting his mentor was the only way.

**WWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW**

It was a Monday afternoon and Willy had once again let his work go by the wayside. In fact, Charlie hadn't seem him since before lunchtime (he and Ronnie hadn't even joined the Buckets for lunch. As had become their usual, they didn't bother offering an explanation). And of course, when Charlie had asked him where he was going, all he had said was that he was busy with other things. "Does he have any idea how far behind we're getting thanks to him?" the youngest Bucket burst out suddenly.

Unfortunately, he happened to be in the Inventing Room right then and several Oompa Loompas overheard and gave him curious looks. "Sorry about that. It's nothing. I was just ranting out loud," Charlie said. This caused the Oompa Loompas to chuckle, since "ranting out loud" was something that Willy often did (usually about a recipe not cooperating or a silly mistake he had made with one of his candy experiments). Much to Charlie's relief, they went back to their tasks and appeared to quickly forget about his little outburst. He tried to turn his attention back to his work, but it was useless. He was too distracted thinking about Willy to get much of anything done.

After several minutes of not really working, Charlie decided to take a walk in the Chocolate Room. Being in that room usually inspired him, so he figured a walk in there might help him get his mind back on work. After explaining to the Oompa Loompas where he was going (he didn't want to pull the disappearing act on them that Willy had been pulling on him), he hopped in the elevator and headed for the nerve center of the factory (as Willy liked to call it). The trip took only a few minutes, and soon he was walking in the familiar meadow.

He hadn't gotten even a quarter of the way through the room when he heard the sound of soft laughter. This was followed by somebody saying something. Although he couldn't make out the words, he recognized the voice that was speaking them. It was Willy's. "And if I didn't know better, I'd say those giggles were Ronnie's," he said to himself. Realizing that was all it took to cause Charlie to do something he normally wouldn't have even considered: he removed his shoes and climbed up a nearby candy tree. When he reached the top, he saw something that made all thoughts of NOT confronting Willy pretty much evaporate.

From his vantage point at the top of the candy tree, Charlie could very clearly see what was on the opposite side of the Chocolate River...and it wasn't just the usual trees, giant lollipops, and candy plants. There, sitting on the riverbank directly across from Charlie, was Willy. He wasn't alone, though. Ronnie was half-sitting, half-lying in his lap. Willy was still speaking, and clearly Ronnie was finding whatever he was telling her to be quite amusing because she kept laughing. Then Willy stopped speaking and gave his wife a loving kiss. Charlie was not amused. It wasn't because he was grossed out, though (as was usually the case when any of the adults in the factory kissed in front of him!). It was because he was furious with his mentor.

"Busy my foot!" he muttered under his breath. All this time, Willy had been lying to him. He had assured him that he was busy and that other things needed his attention. Obviously, Charlie had been meant to assume that those "other things" were somehow business-related. "The only thing he's been busy doing is snogging Ronnie!" he fumed. When he looked across the river bank again, he saw that Willy and Ronnie had disappeared. "Probably off to be 'busy' some more," Charlie huffed. Before he could even so much as start to think about what to do next, a very familiar female voice spoke behind him.

"Charlie James Bucket, what on earth do you think you're doing?" it scolded him. Feeling rather sheepish, Charlie climbed down from the tree and faced his mother. "I was just...er, I was just checking to see how much of the Chocolate Room I could see from up there," he said (as angry as he was with Willy, he wasn't exactly eager for his mother to find out that he had, in fact, been spying on the chocolatier and his wife!). "Charlie, you and I both know full well that's not why you climbed that tree," Nora said firmly.

"If you have any questions, dial information, thank you for calling," Charlie replied. Nora shook her head. "I think you've been hanging around Willy too much. You're starting to pick up some of his bad habits," she said. "Mom, really, I promise you I was being careful," Charlie said. "Well, please don't go climbing the candy trees again!" Nora warned him. After assuring her that he wouldn't, Charlie headed back to the Inventing Room.

He spent the rest of the afternoon devising a plan to confront Willy (and, needless to say, getting hardly any actual work done!). Despite the fact that the candy maker hadn't been doing his share of the work, there was one part of his daily work routine that had remained unchanged. He went to his office every afternoon at around 4 o'clock to review the fruits of the day's labors and to figure out what would need to be tackled the next day (Charlie wasn't sure why he'd been even bothering with the latter lately, though, considering that he seemed to have lost interest in work!). Therefore, Charlie's plan was to confront his mentor in his office.

The second the clock struck four, Charlie took a deep breath and headed for the odd little room that was Willy's office. It didn't take him long to get there, and he yanked open the door, ready to let Willy have it. But the chocolatier wasn't there. "I shouldn't really be surprised, considering he's been lying to me about everything else. I'll give him a few more minutes, even though I probably shouldn't," he grumbled. He sat down in the half chair, wincing a bit as he did so. "I will never understand how Willy can actually consider this thing comfortable," he said to no one in particular.

"Hey, I heard that!" an all-to familiar voice spoke up suddenly as its owner entered the room. Normally, Charlie would have chuckled at his mentor's response and impish grin. Today, however, he was in no mood for joking around. He leaped to his feet and looked Willy square in the eye. "LIAR!" he spat. Willy's grin was quickly replaced by a look of utter shock and surprise. "Hey, take it easy! It's just a half-chair, and I didn't lie. I DO find it comfortable," he said. "This isn't about the stupid chair!" Charlie snapped. Now Willy looked more surprised than ever. "Then what is it about?" he asked. "As if you don't know!" Charlie fumed.

Willy was now completely bewildered. He couldn't believe that this angry boy in front of him was same person as the sweet-natured, kind-hearted boy that he had come to love like a brother. "Charlie, I don't understand," he said. "I should have known you wouldn't! For the last several days, whenever you've shrugged off your work responsibilities, you've told me that you were busy with other things. You've been busy all right, busy with Ronnie! I saw the two of you in the Chocolate Room earlier today!" Charlie exploded. Willy groaned. Talk about awkward situations! "She needs me right now," he said simply.

"Sure she does! You two keep insisting to us that Sally determined that she wasn't sick, and that she's 'fine'. If she's 'fine', she shouldn't need you any more than usual!" Charlie shouted. "Charlie, I..." the chocolatier began. But Charlie wasn't about to let him finish. "I know exactly what's going on here! You don't care about the factory anymore, or about me. All you care about is HER!" he yelled. Then, without another word, he turned on his heel and stormed out of the office.

**WWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW**

While Charlie had been busy giving Willy a piece of his mind, Ronnie had been resting. Today had definitely not been one of her better days. She'd thrown up so much that she was beginning to think she might as well just stick her head in the trash can (although she normally tried to reserve the can for emergency night uses only, she made an exception to the rule on her particularly bad days so she wouldn't exhaust herself from constantly running to the bathroom!) and leave it there.

As was the norm on Ronnie's bad days, Willy had been spending as much time with her as he could, taking care of her and doing what he could to make her feel better. That had included their trip to the Chocolate Room earlier. Ronnie had always loved that room, and lately she had found that, oddly enough, being in there actually seemed to ease her queasiness. So spending time there had quickly become part of her and Willy's "bad day" routine. After returning from the Chocolate Room Ronnie had rested on the couch while she and Willy watched their respective favorite movies (Willy's, not surprisingly, was _Chocolat_, while comedy-lover Ronnie's was _Young Frankenstein_). Ronnie had even managed to eat (and keep down!) some popcorn during the "double-feature".

Now Ronnie was waiting for Willy to return from his office. He had promised her that he would only stay there as long as it took for him to gather up the papers he needed to look over. Then he'd come straight back home and take of the papers there. However, it was now nearly twenty minutes after four and he still hadn't returned. Ronnie was beginning to get a little worried. It wasn't like her husband to be so late. Even though she knew she should stay on the couch and keep resting, she decided to go to Willy's office and check to see what was going on.

When Ronnie finally reached Willy's office (it had taken her awhile to get there since she had opted to walk. She had thought it best not to ride in the glass elevator when her stomach had been acting up all day!), she was surprised to find that the door was open. Willy virtually always left his office door closed so that he could have some privacy while he was in there. Ronnie carefully entered the office, not wanting to startle Willy. She shouldn't have worried, though, because Willy didn't even look up when she entered. In fact, he didn't even seem to notice that she was there. He was sitting at his desk, his head in his hands and his back to the door.

As Ronnie drew closer to where Willy sat, trying to figure out how to get his attention without scaring the living daylights out of him, she noticed something shocking: her husband was crying. Crying was something that Willy never did. In fact, while the chocolatier HAD gotten a little teary at their wedding, there was only one other time that Ronnie could remember seeing him full-on crying. It had happened back when they were kids, and Ronnie still remembered the incident clear as day...

_It was the week before Mother's Day, and eight-year-old Ronnie and her classmates knew that meant only one thing: they'd be spending most of their art classes that week making gifts for their mothers. At that moment it was recess, which happened to be right before art class. Because of that, Ronnie's classmates were discussing what gifts their teacher, Mrs. Brooks, was going to have them make for their mothers. Ronnie was rather shy and so didn't join any of the discussions, but that didn't mean that she wasn't listening in on them! In particular, she was listening to the discussion that Terrance and his friends, otherwise known as the bullies of the third grade, were having. _

"_It'll probably be something babyish like macaroni necklaces or something," Terrance was saying. "Or something girly like piper-cleaner flowers," one of his friends said with more than a hint of disgust in his voice. __At that moment, Willy Wonka walked by, stopping in horror when he realized he had just walked right into Terrance and his friends' "territory". _

_Ronnie didn't blame him a bit. Even though Willy was the kindest, sweetest boy that Ronnie knew and wouldn't so much as hurt a fly, Terrance and his gang seemed to target him more than any other kid for some reason. Ronnie fervently hoped that they would leave him alone for once. Unfortunately, they quickly made it clear that they had absolutely no intentions of doing so._

"_Hey, brace face, what are you going to do when it's time for us to make Mother's Day gifts?" Terrance sneered. "Yeah, you don't have a mother," taunted one of Terrance's friends. Willy looked stung. "Well, I..." he began. Another of Terrance's friends cut him off, saying "And you know that we all have to participate in art class, just like in all our other classes. That's the rule". "What do you suppose happened to tinsel face's mother anyway?" yet another one of Terrance's friends asked the group. "She probably left him and his dad because she couldn't take him being such a baby anymore," the first of Terrance's friends replied. "No, she left because metal head here was so ugly she couldn't take it anymore!" Terrance jeered. _

_Ronnie was furious. She wanted to slap Terrance in the face for saying such a horrible thing! She fully expected Willy to get the heck out of there, like he usually did when Terrance and his friends bullied him. Instead, to her great surprise, he looked Terrance straight in the eye and, sounding like he was about to cry, exclaimed, "She's dead!" THEN he got out of there, going to a nearby bench and sitting on it. Ronnie watched as he burst into tears. That was all it took to push her over the edge. _

_She charged over to Terrance. "Terrance, you're going to pay for what you just did to Willy!" she yelled. "Oh, I'm so scared!" Terrance said in mock fright. "You should be!" Ronnie replied as she prepared to let the bully have it. But just then the whistle blew, signaling the end of recess. "Don't think this means you're off the hook! I'll get even with you later!" she told Terrance. Terrance ignored her as they headed back into school._

_Once they were back in the classroom, Mrs. Brooks announced that they had two choices for their Mother's Day gifts. They could either decorate a flower pot or make a beaded necklace. Ronnie raised her hand. "Yes, Ronnie," Mrs. Brooks called on her. "Mrs. Brooks, what if we don't have a mother to make Mother's Day stuff for?" she asked. She saw Willy flash her a smile as Mrs. Brooks replied, "That's a very good question, Ronnie. If you don't have a mother to make a gift for, you can either make a gift for another female relative or a friend". Ronnie felt relieved as she got to work making a beaded necklace for her mother. _

_The class worked on their gifts for the rest of the week. On Friday morning, Ronnie discovered a flower pot on her desk when she came into the classroom. A scene had been carefully painted on it. It depicted a man and a woman standing arm-in-arm on what looked like a riverbank in a room full of large lollipops, candy trees, and other types of candies. Not only that, but the river lapping up against the shore appeared to be made of chocolate. On the shore to the right of the couple's feet were painted the words, "We are the music makers, and we are the dreamers of dreams". (1) _

_As Ronnie took in the beautiful scene on the flowerpot, she couldn't help but notice that there was something oddly familiar about the couple. After a few moments, she realized what it was and gasped. The couple looked familiar because the man was Willy and the woman was her. The flowerpot depicted more than just a beautiful scene. It depicted Willy's vision of the future..._

Ronnie abruptly yanked herself out of the memory. Not only was this hardly an appropriate time to be having a flashback, but remembering what Terrance had done to Willy was making her feel ill once again. Like everything else in the office, the trash can had been cut in half, so having to be sick right then would have been less than ideal.

Banishing the memory (or at least the part about Terrance's taunts!) to the back of her mind, she reached out and gently placed her hand on her husband's shoulder. Willy immediately removed his head from his hands and looked up at her. When he saw who it was that had touched his shoulder, a smile stretched across his face. "Did you think I'd forgotten about you?" he asked playfully. "Well, I WAS beginning to wonder where you were, since it's not like you to be so late," Ronnie said in just as playful a tone. Then she got serious and asked, "What's the matter, mon bonbon homme?"

Ronnie's habit of getting right to the heart of the matter had always been one of the traits Willy admired most in her, and today he was especially grateful for it. He hadn't intended to tell anyone about the incident with Charlie, figuring it was something he needed to sort out on his own anyway. But if there was one person he couldn't bring himself to lie to, it was his wife. Ronnie's inquiry had also made him realize that what he really needed right then was to talk to her about what had happened between him and Charlie. So he told her the whole ugly story, starting with his arrival at the office and finishing with Charlie's departure from the room. By the time he'd finished relating the confrontation with his apprentice, he was crying all over again.

For once, Ronnie was thankful that she was several inches shorter than Willy. The difference in their heights meant that, when Willy was seated and Ronnie was standing, they were pretty close to the same "height"...which came in handy in situations like this one. Ronnie reached out and wrapped her husband in a warm embrace. "Sounds like our decision to hold off on announcing until Thanksgiving has gotten a little more complicated than we thought," she said soothingly. "You can say that again," Willy said with a sigh. "At least there's just over a week left until Thanksgiving. Then everyone will know and hopefully things will get a little easier around here," Ronnie tried to reassure him.

"Yeah, but in the meantime I've still got the issue with Charlie to deal with," Willy pointed out. Ronnie knew exactly what he meant. With Thanksgiving over a week away, obviously life would be a lot easier for everyone if Willy and Charlie could resolve their conflict before then! The fact that Willy couldn't tell Charlie the reason for his change in behavior lately, though, was going to make that difficult. But Ronnie had an idea of how to help. "I think we need to have a Double Wonka brainstorming session," she said. That made Willy smile.

"Double Wonka" brainstorming sessions were something that he and Ronnie had come up with. Like most brainstorming sessions, they included throwing out any sort of idea that might pop into their head, even if it was impractical or even virtually impossible. However, they also included a little twist: Willy and Ronnie would start the brainstorming session by INTENTIONALLY coming up with impractical or virtually impossible ideas.

They found that doing so helped to get their "creative juices" flowing, plus it helped to cheer them up (which was usually very needed, since brainstorming is, after all, usually done to come up with solutions to a problem). The term "Double Wonka", of course, had come from the fact that the brainstorming sessions were being done by two Wonkas (although they had joked many times that "Double Wonka" sounded more like an ice cream flavor than a name for a brainstorming session)!

Before Willy could comment on Ronnie's idea, however, his wife's stomach let out a loud rumble. "Perhaps we'd better have the brainstorming session over supper," the chocolatier chuckled. "I don't know. Given the way my stomach's been acting today, I'm not sure I can trust it to keep anything down," Ronnie replied. "You handled the popcorn just fine," Willy reminded her. "Yes, but I didn't eat that much of it," Ronnie said. "Well, you need to at least try to eat something. Remember, you aren't just eating for yourself anymore," Willy insisted, glancing at his wife's abdomen.

Ronnie rolled her eyes. She knew this wasn't an argument she was going to be able to win. Ever since they had learned they were about be parents, Willy had been quite protective of her. She mostly found it endearing, but it DID get annoying at times! "Okay, okay, you win!" she said with a chuckle as she followed her husband to the glass elevator.

* * *

><p><strong>(1) <strong>From "Ode" by Arthur O'Shaughnessy

**A/n: **I know what you're thinking: "How could sweet-natured, kind-hearted little Charlie Bucket possibly yell at Willy like that"? Well, Charlie may have a heart of gold, but he's still human...and he's also still just a kid. I figure its only natural that even he has his limits! Just to give you fair warning, the coming chapters are going to have more angsty moments in them. That's not to say there won't still be sweet, tender, and even downright romantic Willy/Ronnie moments. Of course there will be! But in the next chapters, things will be getting a bit more complicated for the Wonkas. In more pleasant news, when Ronnie referred to Willy as "Mon bon bon homme", she was calling him "my candy man" or "my sweet man" in French.

**Chapter 5 preview: **Willy and Ronnie share a tender moment in the Chocolate Room...and Thanksgiving finally arrives and they announce their big news! Will Charlie be happy? Or will things between he and Willy go from bad to worse? Stay tuned!


	5. Chapter 5: Bliss and Thankfulness

**Disclaimer: **You know the drill! Not a thing in this story belongs to me (well, except for baby Wonka, that is)!

**A/n: **Well, this chapter turned out a bit longer and more involved than I had anticipated! Hope you enjoy it as much as the others. Also, a HUGE thank you to me two reviewers for the last chapter. I know I've said this before, but I can't say it enough: Reviews are like chocolate for writers. They keep us inspired and they keep us writing. So please keep them coming!

* * *

><p>"You could tell Charlie you've been possessed by a whangdoodle," Ronnie was saying. She and Willy had returned to their apartment and had begun their "Double Wonka" brainstorming session. "That might just work...if he wasn't aware that whangdoodles only live in Loompaland," Willy laughed. "It doesn't seem like they're interested in possessing people, either," Ronnie added (Willy, of course, had told her all about Loompaland and the horrible creatures that inhabited it). "I could tell him that I got a little carried away with the fizzy lifting drinks and they messed up my mind for a bit," Willy suggested.<p>

Ronnie knew that if Willy really HAD gotten carried away with the fizzy lifting drinks, he would have been spending a lot of time floating around the factory...followed by a lot of burping. The image of her husband floating and burping made Ronnie practically turn into a hyena. Unfortunately, she had just put a spoonful of tomato soup (the same kind that was in the three-course dinner gum. Needless to say, she was thankful that it wasn't the soup that caused the problems with the gum!) into her mouth when she burst out laughing. As a result, she ended up nearly spraying Willy (who was sitting across from her)!

"I'm sorry, but the image of you 'overdosing' on fizzy lifting drinks is hilarious," she apologized once she'd calmed down. "Hey, no problem. I've seen many an Oompa Loompa enjoying the fizzy lifting drinks a little too much and the effect IS rather hilarious to watch," Willy replied. "I think we'd better get serious now before I lose my soup!" Ronnie said (the laughter attack hadn't exactly done her stomach any good!). Willy gazed tenderly at his wife. "You definitely don't need to get sick again," he said, his voice full of empathy and concern.

"I don't think I will as long as I avoid laughing and eating for awhile," Ronnie assured him as she pushed her soup bowl away. "Are you sure?" Willy asked, still sounding concerned. "Don't worry. I just overdid it a little, that's all," Ronnie insisted. The chocolatier knew that was as direct a response he was going to get from his wife right then, so he reluctantly returned to brainstorming. "The best thing would be for me to just be honest with Charlie, but there's really no way for me to do that without spilling the beans," he said. Ronnie nodded in agreement.

"At this point, I think all you can really do is keep assuring Charlie that of course you DO still care about him and about the factory. Getting him to understand that and believe that will probably take some time, though. I have a feeling that Charlie's issue with you isn't really about work," she commented. "Then what is it about?" Willy asked. "I think it's about me," Ronnie answered. The candy maker looked shocked. "You? But Charlie loves you! He's always telling me that I made a great choice of a wife, and that he loves how you never fail to make him laugh. Not to mention the fact that he smiles every time you come into the room," he said.

"Yes, Willy, but that was before I got pregnant and ended up with a monster case of morning sickness. Now you're having to spend a lot more time with me than usual because of it, and I'm sure Charlie resents that. And since he doesn't know the reason you're spending so much more time with me, he probably views it as you choosing me over him. Willy, the simple fact is that Charlie is jealous," Ronnie explained. Willy's expression quickly changed from shock to worry. "You're probably right. I just hope that he doesn't get even more jealous when we make the big announcement," he said with a sigh.

Ronnie reached across the table and gave her husband's hand a reassuring pat. "If he does, he does. We'll cross that bridge if and when we come to it. But for now, let's not worry about it," she said. Willy smiled at her. "You always know just what to say or do to cheer me up," he said. Ronnie grinned back. "What can I say? I know you almost as well as I know myself," she said.

"You'd better!" Willy playfully teased as her. Then he got up, walked over to Ronnie, and scooped her out of her chair and into his arms. Ronnie normally loved it when he did that, but this was one time when she couldn't enjoy it. Even though Willy had been careful when he had whisked her out of the chair, the motion had caused her stomach to jump into her throat. Now she was fighting to keep herself from losing her supper. "If Willy ends up wearing my soup, I'm going to just die!" she thought.

Noticing that his wife was looking rather queasy, Willy realized that he'd gotten a little carried away and quickly (but gently!) lowered her to the floor. "Do you need the trash can?" he asked, his voice soft and apologetic. Ronnie thought for a minute. She still felt a bit queasy, but for the moment her soup seemed content to stay where it belonged. "No, thank goodness," she answered her husband's question. Willy was very relieved to hear that, but he still felt guilty about what he had done. "I'm sorry, starshine. I shouldn't have gotten so carried away," he apologized.

"That's all right. You just got caught up in the moment," Ronnie consoled him. Instead of replying, the chocolatier studied her for a few moments. Then he said, "You're still feeling awfully queasy, aren't you bon bon?" Ronnie sighed. Leave it to Willy to figure out how she was feeling without her having to say a word. She DID still feel very queasy, but she had been trying to hide that from Willy so as to avoid making him feel even guiltier than he already did. "I should know by now that there aren't too many things I can hide from him," she thought. "Yes, I am. I don't know who came up with the term 'morning sickness', but what a joke! It ought to be called all-day-and-night sickness!" she told Willy.

The candy maker looked into his wife's eyes, his expression one of sympathy and tenderness. "It sounds like you could use another trip to the Chocolate Room," he said. Ronnie smiled at him. "That would be chocorific," she said (she and Willy were constantly coming up with new ways to describe things!). "Well then, what are we waiting for? Let's go!," Willy replied, wearing a smile to match Ronnie's.

**WWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW**

It didn't take Ronnie and Willy more than five minutes to reach their favorite room in the factory (while the Chocolate Room wasn't all that close to their living quarters, the elevator's speed made it possible to get there relatively quickly). The couple immediately headed for the river bank (their favorite spot in the room) and sat down. "It's so peaceful here at night," Ronnie remarked. Willy more than agreed with her. The Chocolate Room looked a lot different at night than it did during the day. Most of the lights were off, and those that were still on were dimmed quite a bit. So instead of being bathed in bright light, the Chocolate Room was enveloped in a soft glow. To Willy, it was rather like being in front of a fire burning in the fireplace, or sitting outside at dusk.

As he looked at his wife, the chocolatier noted that the warm glow of the dimmed lights was making her look even more beautiful than usual. "She looks positively radiant!" he thought. "It's much more than peaceful in here," he murmured. Then he gently guided Ronnie's head toward his and captured her lips in a passionate kiss. Eager to intensify the kiss even more, Ronnie wrapped her arms around her husband. Willy returned the gesture and they began to slowly and gently rock back and forth as they continued kissing. Right as they were getting into a good rhythm and thinking that things couldn't possibly get much better, Willy rocked a little too far backward and fell over, bringing Ronnie with him.

Concerned that the sudden motion may have sent Ronnie's stomach back into overdrive, Willy immediately broke the kiss (which they'd somehow managed to continue even as they were falling!) and asked, "Are you all right, starshine?" To his surprise, Ronnie's response was to grin mischievously at him. Before he could even so much as wonder what she was up to, she planted a kiss square on his neck. This caused him to let out a soft moan of pleasure. Rather enjoying the sound of that, Ronnie kissed her husband's neck once again.

Just as Willy was about to reciprocate, the couple remembered that they were in the Chocolate Room and sat back up (after having been very nearly caught in the act, so to speak, by a maintenance Oompa Loompa who had been doing some emergency night repairs on the Chocolate Waterfall, they had learned not to assume that no one else was in the Chocolate Room at night! In order to avoid another situation like that one, they now made sure to keep things from getting TOO intimate in that particular room!). As it turned out, it was lucky that they had toned things down when they did...because unbeknownst to them, they were being watched.

**WWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW**

James and Nora Bucket took a walk in the Chocolate Room almost every evening, and tonight was no exception. They had been enjoying their walk and talking about various topics when they heard the unmistakable sound of someone moaning in ecstasy (it was Willy, of course, but they didn't know that at the time). The sound seemed to be coming from across the river, so they climbed onto one of the bridges to get a better look. They were just in time to see Ronnie kiss Willy's neck as she lie on top of him. Then they had to stifle giggles when the couple hurriedly sat back up.

"They must have gotten caught up in the moment and forgotten where they were for a few minutes," Nora chuckled softly (even though the bridge she and James were on was a good distance away from Willy and Ronnie, she didn't want to risk them overhearing!). "What was your first clue?" James joked. "I don't know about you, but something seems to be different about them lately," Nora said, growing serious. "I know what you mean. I've noticed it, too. For one thing, they can't seem to keep their hands off each other lately. I mean, I realize that they're married AND they're newlyweds, so of course they're going to be a bit lovey-dovey, but it just seems a bit more extreme than usual," James replied.

"Exactly. Not only that, but they've been walking around looking like they know a secret," Nora said. "And that's not all. Have you noticed how protective Willy seems to be of Ronnie all of a sudden? Not to mention the fact that they've both been being quite mysterious lately," James mused. While they had been talking, Nora had been thinking about all the things they'd noticed about Willy and Ronnie, and trying to figure out what those things could possibly mean. Now a realization hit her, one that made her eyes go wide with surprise. "You know, James, most of the things we've observed about Willy and Ronnie lately were true of us once, too. And they happened because of something very special that happened to us," she said.

It took James a few minutes to realize what his wife was getting at. Then he gasped as his eyes, too, went wide with shock. "You're talking about when we found out Charlie was on the way, aren't you?" he inquired. Nora nodded. "So basically you're saying that you think Ronnie and Willy are..." James trailed off, too stunned to say more. "Well, I don't want to jump the gun, but I kind of think so. I mean, it all pretty much adds up," Nora told her husband.

"I think you might be right. And if you are, how special for them!" James said with a smile. "Indeed. As excited as we may be, though, we can't let them know what we suspect. Obviously, assuming we're correct in our assumption, they're waiting for the right time to announce the news to all of us," Nora said. "Do you think Thanksgiving might be that time?" James asked. Nora smiled. "Maybe," she said.

**WWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW**

The rest of the week seemed to Willy and Ronnie to be the longest one in history. Finally, just when they were thinking they might go crazy from holding in their secret, Thanksgiving Day arrived. Surprisingly, however, Ronnie didn't feel relieved. Instead, she felt worried. It wasn't even noon yet, and already she'd thrown up twice (once in the wee hours of the morning, and once right after getting up for the day). Clearly this was not going to be a good day for her morning sickness-wise!

Making matters even worse, they had decided that this year, the entire factory "family" was going to eat Thanksgiving dinner together. That meant not just Willy, Ronnie, their parents and the Buckets, but the entire Oompa Loompa tribe as well. Because it was going to be such a large group, they had decided that dinner would be in the Chocolate Room. Since there wouldn't be enough room for everyone in the area the Buckets' cottage was in, they were going to eat at the other end of the room.

All of this meant that, with the nearest bathroom being the one in the Buckets' cottage (which, given the immense size of the Chocolate Room, was quite a distance from where they were going to be eating!), Ronnie might not be able to make it there in time if she needed to get sick. Given the way the day had been going so far, Ronnie knew that the odds of her being able to keep down her dinner, or even tolerate all the smells of it, were quite slim. And that wasn't the only thing weighing on Ronnie's mind. They had agreed that dinner would be potluck style, meaning every person or group of people would contribute a dish or two of food to the dinner. Needless to say, the last thing Ronnie felt like doing right then was preparing food!

She was still pondering how she was going to get through dinner when Willy returned from a meeting he'd been having with Charlie and some of the Oompa Loompas (it was a routine meeting, and while they hadn't intended to have it on Thanksgiving morning, that day had turned out to be the only one when everyone's schedules were free enough and flexible enough for it). He was both surprised and saddened to find his wife looking absolutely panicked. "What's got you so worked up, sugar plum?" he asked, heading over to the couch to join Ronnie (since she figured she'd better take it easy until dinner, she had been lying there while Willy was at his meeting. But now that he had returned, she had sat up so he could sit next to her).

"I'm have no idea how I'm going to make it through dinner. I'll have to eat something, since it would be impolite not to, but with the way my stomach has been acting, it'll be a miracle if I can keep it down. And the smells will probably just make things even worse," Ronnie confessed. Willy knew what Ronnie was really trying to say: She was afraid that she was going to end up getting sick in front of everybody. "No wonder she looked so panicked!" he thought. "It'll be all right, starshine. Perhaps I can sneak a trash can under the table before dinner starts," he assured her.

"And how exactly am I supposed to be discreet about using it if the need arises?" Ronnie inquired, sounding frustrated. Willy felt like kicking himself. "Brilliant suggestion, Willy, real brilliant!" he mentally scolded himself. "Not exactly my most intelligent of ideas, I know. Sorry about that," he apologized to his wife. Ronnie couldn't help but smile. "Don't be so hard on yourself. Even the world's greatest chocolatier can't be expected to come up with great ideas all the time," she said. In response, Willy leaned over and gave her a tender kiss. Ronnie wrapped her arms around him and happily returned the gesture.

As the couple embraced, Ronnie was delighted to discover that the sweet, luscious smell of chocolate was emanating from her husband's hair and clothes. Because of the numerous candies Willy made, on any given day he could smell like anything from strawberries to peanuts. But Ronnie loved the times that he smelled like chocolate best of all. The smell of the special chocolate that Willy made had always been soothing to her, and now that she was pregnant and in the throes of morning sickness, she found it to be more of a comfort than ever. She sighed with contentment.

Willy smiled lovingly at her. "Feeling better, I take it?" he said. Ronnie nodded. "I know I've told you this before, but I love it when you smell like chocolate. It's even managed to calm my stomach down a bit," she replied. "Well, then, there's our answer to the question of what to do if you start feeling sick at dinner," Willy said. Instead of answering with words, Ronnie playfully nuzzled her husband. "It's good to see you so happy again, my buttercup. By the way, I knew you weren't going to feel like fixing anything for the dinner, so I stopped in the Fudge room on the way back from my meeting and grabbed a batch of strawberry-flavored, chocolate-coated fudge for us to contribute," Willy told her.

Ronnie gave him a grateful look. "Sometimes I think you can read my mind!" she said. "What kind of husband would I be if I couldn't?" Willy responded, his tone both playful and loving. Ronnie smiled at him, then glanced at her watch and realized that it was a quarter to one (dinner was to begin at one). "I guess we'd better head to dinner!" she said. Willy peeked at his own watch. "I guess so!" he said.

**WWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW**

"Well, well, it's the two lovebirds!" Willy and Ronnie heard Sylvia Wells's soft voice remark as they entered the Chocolate Room arm in arm. To their surprise, both she and Dr. Wonka had managed to beat them to dinner. "We're not late, are we?" Ronnie asked. Sylvia chuckled at her daughter' rather odd greeting. "Now is that any way to greet your mother?" she teased. Ronnie chuckled, too. "Sorry. I probably should have at least said 'hello' first. But when I saw that you and Wilbur were already here, I started to wonder for a minute there," she admitted.

"I did, too. You two are both pretty punctual, and since Ronnie and I walked here, I thought that perhaps I'd done the unthinkable and forgotten just how long it takes to get from our apartment to the Chocolate Room on foot," Willy jumped in. "Well, don't worry. You guys were right on time. We we were early. Besides, I don't think it's possible for you to forget things, Willy. You've got a mind like an elephant's!" Sylvia laughed. Willy's cheeks took on a reddish tinge. "I wouldn't go that far, but thanks," he said. "Why in the world did you two walk here? Don't you normally use some sort of flying contraption or something?" Dr. Wonka put in. "Wilbur's right. You usually that odd glass machine," Sylvia agreed.

Willy and Ronnie just barely managed to refrain from rolling their eyes. Their parents always called the glass elevator by everything but its proper name! "You mean the glass elevator, and yes. But we felt that we could use the exercise today," Ronnie explained. Sylvia gave Ronnie a look that clearly said she wasn't buying that explanation for a second. Before she could say anything, however, the small group heard someone clearing their throat.

Glancing around to see who it was, they realized that it was Nora. Willy and Ronnie had been so happy to see their parents (although Willy hadn't always had the best relationship with his father, the two more or less enjoyed each other's company now) that they hadn't even noticed that the Buckets (as well as the Oompa Loompas, who were seated at several tables nearby) had also beat them to the dinner area!

"I'm sorry about that, Nora. I can't believe we didn't even acknowledge you guys when we came in," Ronnie apologized. "We honestly didn't mean to ignore you, I assure you," Willy added. "That's perfectly all right. You were happy to see your parents, and that's a good thing," Nora assured them. "Nora just wanted to make sure nobody started eating the table," Grandpa Joe joked. The rest of the group laughed. "Well, then, I guess it's time to start dinner!" Willy said.

"It was time to start dinner five minutes ago," grumbled Grandpa George. "Who gets the honor of saying the Thanksgiving blessing this year?" Nora asked her family and friends, ignoring her father's rude comment (she had found that the best way to deal with his rather gruff manner was to simply not acknowledge it). Having someone give a special Thanksgiving blessing was a tradition Willy and the Buckets had started the year before during the Buckets' first Thanksgiving at the factory. That year it had been Charlie that had done it, and they'd agreed that they'd rotate who got the task every year after that.

"I think Ronnie should get to say it, since she's the newest member of the factory family," James suggested. "Thank you, James. I appreciate the gesture. Willy and I have been thinking that we'd like to do things a little differently this year, though," Ronnie responded. "What do you have in mind?" Grandpa Joe asked. "We thought that it would be nice to say a table prayer as a group, and then, after we get done eating, have each of us say something we're thankful for," Willy said. "I like that idea," said Nora. The rest of the group nodded their agreement. With the decision made, they all joined hands around the tables (with the people on the end of each table holding the hands of the people at the ends of the next table in order to link everyone together) and said the table prayer.

"Okay, we may as well start with the drinks. Who wants what?" Nora asked, motioning to a collection of bottles at the end of the table. "What are the choices?" Sylvia asked. "Let's see. We've got butterscotch, buttergin, Wonka's Special Blueberry Brew..." Nora began, reading the labels on the bottles. "Don't worry, the blueberry brew has been tested extensively and it doesn't turn people into blueberries," Willy assured everyone, noticing the slightly alarmed expression on Grandpa Joe's face. "I'm very glad to hear that!" Grandpa Joe said with a chuckle. Before the rest of the group could react, Ronnie spoke up. "Nothing for me, please. I'll stick with water," she said. Nora hid a smile as she began pouring drinks for the rest of the group (Charlie, of course, had water like Ronnie!). She was more positive than ever now that her suspicions about Ronnie were right.

As soon as the drinks were taken care of, everyone dished themselves up and dug in. Everyone, that is, except Ronnie. Just as she'd feared, now that all the food was uncovered (they'd kept the covers on all the "hot" foods until the last minute to prevent it from getting cold while they were waiting to eat) and the smells of dinner were wafting through the air, she was starting to feel nauseous. Even the mere sight of some of the dishes (including, for some reason, the turkey) made her stomach flip-flop. Then, to her horror, she began to experience what had become an all too familiar sensation: her breakfast (although she hadn't felt like eating anything, Willy had talked her into a small bowl of oatmeal- which, luckily, was one of the few foods that she was usually able to keep down even on her bad days) was trying to make an appearance.

Without really thinking about what she was doing, she closed her eyes and rested her head against Willy's chest. Closing her mouth, she took a big breath in through her nose, allowing the wonderful, chocolaty aroma that was clinging to her husband fill her nostrils. Right away she could feel her nausea lessening and she took another big breath.

As Willy smiled down at her, an idea popped into his head. He lifted a piece of strawberry-flavored, chocolate-coated fudge off the tray that was sitting in front of him. "I think this may help, too," he whispered to his wife. Ronnie opened her mouth eagerly, and Willy placed the piece of fudge on her tongue.

Although Ronnie had always loved strawberry-flavored, chocolate-coated fudge and it never failed to make her feel absolute bliss, she was unprepared for the effect this particular piece of fudge had on her. Being pregnant was apparently making her more sensitive to the endorphin rush caused by the chocolate, because as she chewed the fudge she started to feel warm and her heart began beating faster.

The candy was also having an interesting and somewhat embarrassing (considering the fact that the Buckets, her mother and her father-in-law were at the table with her and Willy and the entire Oompa Loompa tribe was close by!) effect on some very personal areas of her body.

"Thank goodness my chest is more or less hidden from everyone except Willy, or things would be even more awkward than they already are!" she thought. Swallowing the last bit of the fudge, she licked her lips absently, not noticing that she was smearing some of the confection on the areas around them in the process. Willy did, though...and it was all he could do to restrain himself from licking it off. As it was, seeing his wife's chocolate-stained mouth, along with feeling her warm body pressed up against his was enough to cause his temperature and heart rate to increase, just as Ronnie's had done moments earlier.

Ronnie quickly sensed that and the feelings of passion that were filling her became even more intense and she let out a soft whimpering sound. Needless to say, she was mortified when realized just what she had done. And she knew that if things kept on like this, they would soon find themselves in a much more embarrassing situation. "Willy, we need to cool things down, or..." she started to say. "Or we're going to humiliate ourselves big time," Willy finished. "Exactly," Ronnie responded, trying her best to ignore the rather dirty thoughts that Willy's statement was sending through her mind (let's just say that the word "big" wasn't exactly bringing images of elephants to her mind!).

Taking deep breaths, Ronnie removed her head from Willy's chest and straightened up, covering her chest with her arms as she did so. Willy, who was taking deep breaths of his own, removed his tailcoat and handed it to Ronnie. She gave him a grateful smile and draped it so that it hid her upper torso. Although the Buckets, Sylvia, and Dr. Wonka had odd expressions on their faces, they didn't ask any questions, much to the couple's relief!

"Is everyone finished eating?" Ronnie asked, trying to sound as though nothing out of the ordinary had just happened. "We just finished a couple minutes ago, actually," Nora replied. "I hope it wasn't because we made you lose your appetites," Willy said apologetically, figuring it was best not to beat around the bush. "What do you think?" Charlie asked, sounding disgusted. Although Willy and Ronnie weren't surprised (despite Willy's best efforts, things between him and the youngest Bucket remained tense), Nora made it clear that she was. "Charlie, what has gotten into you?" she scolded her son. Then she turned back to Willy and Ronnie. "Don't mind him. You didn't make us lose our appetites," she assured them.

Relieved, Willy decided to change the subject (since he didn't particularly feel like talking any more about his and Ronnie's little incident, and he knew Ronnie didn't either!). "So is everyone ready to start saying what we're thankful for yet?" he asked. "I think we are," Nora said. The rest of the group (including the Oompa Loompas who, Willy and Ronnie were glad to note, hadn't seemed to notice what had been going on over at the main table!) agreed that they were as well. "Okay then. Who wants to go first?" Ronnie inquired.

"I'd be happy to go first," Grandpa Joe volunteered. When no one objected, he continued to speak. "I'm thankful that we live in such a wonderful place and that my grandson gets to work with such a wonderful guy," he said. "I'm thankful that this year has been even better than last year," spoke up Grandma Josephine. Grandma Georgina (who happened to be in a lucid state right then) went next. "I'm thankful for a good family and good friends," she said.

"I'm thankful for my Gigi," Grandpa George said. "I'm thankful for a good job and a loving wife," James put in. "I'm thankful for my factory family," was Nora's contribution. "I'm thankful that my son and I have been able to put the past behind us and be on good terms," Dr. Wonka told the group. "I'm thankful to have reconnected with an old friend," Sylvia said, smiling at Dr. Wonka.

With the Buckets, Sylvia and Dr. Wonka having said what they were thankful for, the Oompa Loompa chief and his wife walked to the front of the room. The chief's wife was empty handed, but the chief was not. He had their youngest child, a daughter that was only one year old, in his arms. Ronnie couldn't help but smile at the scene, knowing that in the not-to-distant future, she and Willy would be sharing moments like that with their child.

She glanced over at Willy to see how the scene had affected him and saw that he had a tender look on his face and tears in his eyes. "The chief certainly has a special bond with his little girl," he said so softly that only Ronnie heard him. Ronnie gave her husband a quick peck on the cheek (she would have preferred to give him a full-on kiss on the lips, but she knew that right then wasn't the appropriate time or place), then turned her attention back to the chief and his family.

"I am speaking on behalf of the Oompa Loompa tribe, and we are thankful for something wonderful that happened this year. Four months ago, as you all know, we welcomed a new member to the factory family. Our dear Mr. Wonka got married in July. Mrs. Wonka is every bit as whimsical and wonderful as her husband, and the factory is a much better place with her in it. So welcome to the family, Mrs. Wonka," the chief said. Then he, his wife, and his daughter went back to their table.

"This is it!" Ronnie whispered to Willy as they stood up. It was Ronnie who was the first to speak to the group. "Thank you, Oaklie, for your kind words. Interestingly enough, what Willy and I are thankful for is similar to what you and the rest of the Oompa Loompas are thankful for," she said (the Oompa Loompas all had names that had to do with either nature or cocoa beans, and the chief had been named for one of the types of trees the Oompa Loompas had lived in before Willy discovered them). Willy couldn't contain his spreading grin. "That's right. What we're thankful for is also something more wonderful than all the chocolate in the world," he said.

"We're thankful that, in about eight months time, the factory family is going to grow even bigger," Ronnie announced, grinning so hard she was sure her cheeks were going to break. Her husband put his hand on her belly and gave it a careful, gentle squeeze. A stunned silence fell over the room as everyone realized what Ronnie's words and Willy's actions meant. Sylvia was the first to break it. "I can't believe it! I'm going to be a grandma!" she gushed. "I knew it! All the signs pointed to it," Nora exclaimed.

"Congratulations to you both," said James. "I have to admit that I never thought I'd be a grandfather, and now that I'm going to be one I...it's..." Dr. Wonka was too choked up to finish. Ronnie was alarmed to discover that, in addition to getting choked up, her father-in-law appeared to be fighting to keep himself from crying. She had expected him to be happy, but she hadn't counted on him getting quite that emotional!

"I had no idea this was going to have such an extreme affect on you," she said. "I'm sorry. This is a very sensitive issue for me. It brings back memories that...well, just very emotional memories," Dr. Wonka tried to explain. To Ronnie's surprise, her mother immediately responded by putting her arm around the dentist.

Before she had the chance to wonder too much about that, though, Charlie, the only person who so far hadn't responded to the news, jumped out of his chair and glared at Willy. "How could you?" he burst out. Nora was horrified by her son's outburst. "Charlie! That's no way to behave!" she said sternly. Charlie ignored her. "May I be excused?" he asked. Then, without giving anyone a chance to answer, he got up and left the table.

* * *

><p><strong>An: **So the cat is finally out of the bag! :) With that being said, I hope Charlie didn't seem too out of character here. I know it's not like him to behave the way I had him behaving in this chapter, but jealousy can do weird things to a person. You're probably also wondering just what Dr. Wonka was referrng to when he referred to "emotional memories". Well, all I can say is to stay tuned!

**Chapter 6 preview: **With their secret finally out and the holiday season rapidly approaching, it's a mostly very happy time for Willy and Ronnie...Until Ronnie experiences a very frightening pregnancy complication. And things between Willy and Charlie become even more strained when the stressed-out chocolatier snaps.


	6. Chapter 6: Darkness and Light

**Disclaimer: **All I own is Baby Wonka!

**A/n: **Before we begin this chapter, I feel like I should give you a few warnings. The first is that this chapter, overall, isn't nearly as "warm and fuzzy" as the others. I told you things were going to start getting more difficult and complicated for the Wonkas, and they definitely do in this chapter. The other warning I want to give is that, while this chapter is by no means graphic, a good portion of it DOES focus on a medical problem. I hope I don't give anything away by saying this, but if you faint at the mere sight or mention of blood, then you may want to skip this chapter!

With the warnings over, I got asked after posting the last chapter whether or not I have decided on Baby Wonka's gender yet. I'd rather not risk giving anything away, so all I'll say is maybe. :) Oh, and as always, please keep those reviews coming, and thanks to my two reviewers for the last chapter!

* * *

><p>A few weeks had passed since Thanksgiving, and the factory was abuzz with the excitement of the holiday season. Decorations had gone up and there was hardly a time when the Oompa Loompas couldn't be heard singing Christmas carols. Nora and the grandmothers were baking up a storm and everyone was in a very jolly mood (even Charlie, despite the feelings of jealousy he still grappled with, was finding himself swept up in the holiday spirit). Perhaps the happiest of the factory's inhabitants were Willy and Ronnie. This would be the first Christmas they'd celebrate together, and they were very excited about it. The fact that their family was in the process of growing made things all the more special for them.<p>

"You know, this is the first year in a long time that I've taken the time to stop and really enjoy the holiday season," Willy remarked one evening as he and Ronnie sat on the couch in their living room, a fire crackling in the fireplace. Ronnie looked at him, her expression one of disbelief. "How could you forget to enjoy Christmas? It's such a wonderful, magical time of the year," she mused. "I know, but I'd always get so caught up with candy making that I just never remembered to take time to simply live in the moment, if you know what I'm saying. I can be a bit of a workaholic sometimes, you know," Willy responded. "No! Really?" Ronnie teased her husband. "Hey, what's that supposed to mean?" Willy chuckled, a look of exaggerated mock annoyance on his face.

Ronnie managed to keep a straight face for about five seconds. Then she burst out laughing. "Willy, you are too much!" she giggled. Willy smiled fondly at her. "Have I ever told you that your laugh is one of my favorite sounds?" he asked. "You've told me that you like my laugh, but not that it's one of your favorite sounds," Ronnie replied. "Well, it is," Willy said. Instead of saying anything, Ronnie scooted closer to him, nestling her head into his shoulder. Willy reciprocated by bending his head down so that it was resting gently on top of hers.

The couple sat like that for several minutes, simply enjoying the fire and each other's company. "This is like something out of a Christmas card or book," Ronnie finally said. Willy knew exactly what she meant. Their living room looked so traditional at the moment that you would never guess it was, in fact, part of the world's biggest and most eccentric chocolate factory. A Christmas tree, decorated with multi-colored lights and the typical hodge-podge of ornaments (everything from traditional Christmas balls to homemade ornaments), stood in a corner just to the right of the fireplace (although far enough back to avoid it being a fire hazard!). A garland of greenery was spread across the mantel of the fireplace, and various decorations were placed throughout the room.

What caught Willy's attention the most right then, however, were the two stockings that were hanging from the mantel. "Next year we'll have to add another stocking," he commented, placing his hand lovingly on his wife's stomach. Ronnie smiled at him. "To think that I've got a little person growing inside me who's part me and part you. I can still scarcely believe it," she remarked. Willy smiled back and began gently rubbing her belly. "I know what you mean. What I can't believe is that we have to wait at least seven more months before we meet her," he said. "Her?" Ronnie asked, a curious look in her blue eyes.

"Or him. I'm not really sure why I said her. It just kind of slipped out before I really had a chance to realize what I was saying, I guess," Willy explained. Ronnie couldn't help but think back to how emotional her husband had gotten when he had seen Oaklie the Oompa Loompa chief with his daughter on Thanksgiving. That made her wonder just how much of an accident his referring to their baby as "her" had really been. Deciding to let the matter drop for the time being, she pressed her lips to Willy's in a tender kiss. Willy happily returned the favor.

After a few minutes they broke the kiss...and Ronnie promptly let out a huge yawn. Willy chuckled softly. "I didn't realize that a simple kiss could be so tiring," he couldn't resist teasing. Ronnie grabbed a pillow that was sitting on the couch and playfully bopped him with it. "It wasn't the kiss that made me yawn, and you know it!" she laughed. Willy didn't respond but instead glanced over at the mantel clock, curious to see how late it was. When he saw what the hour was, he just about fell off the couch.

"No wonder you're tired, starshine, it's eleven o' clock!" he told Ronnie. Ronnie was just as surprised as Willy had been. She had known they'd been sitting in front of the fireplace for awhile...but she hadn't realized it was quite that late! This made her very thankful that she and Willy had thought to change into their pajamas before cuddling in front of the fire (having a cuddle in front of the fireplace was one of their favorite winter evening rituals and they wanted to do everything they could to stretch it out for as long as possible!). "Yikes! It's a wonder I didn't fall asleep before now!" she commented (thanks to her pregnancy-induced fatigue, she often found herself falling asleep fairly early).

"I suppose we'd better get to bed, then," Willy pointed out. "Yeah, but I think I'm too tired to walk to our bedroom," Ronnie replied, looking at her husband with puppy dog eyes. "She knows I can't resist her when she does that!" the candy maker thought. "All right, starshine, all right," he said as he gently lifted her into his arms. As he carried her to the bedroom, he found himself reflecting on how happy and peaceful things were right then. There was still the issue with Charlie, of course, but overall he was feeling as though things in the factory couldn't get any better. Little did he and Ronnie know that something was about to happen that would shatter that bliss.

**WWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW**

Two days after he had cuddled with Ronnie on their couch, Willy was in his office preparing for one of his most important meetings of the year with Charlie and the Oompa Loompas: their year-end meeting (they always held it early in December to avoid it getting lost in the shuffle, so to speak, in all the excitement of Christmas and New Years). Well, at least he was SUPPOSED to be preparing for the meeting. The truth was that he had done almost zero prep work since entering his office. The half sheet of paper in front of him had exactly three words on it (the words "Year-End Meeting"), and he was spending more time studying the rather unusual decor of his office than he was thinking about the meeting.

Oddly enough, the chocolatier usually rather enjoyed preparing for meetings (well, except for the paperwork that had to be done for them!). But on that particular day he was finding it next to impossible to concentrate. The fact of the matter was that he had been feeling very uneasy ever since he had left his and Ronnie's apartment that morning. For some reason that he couldn't figure out, he kept getting the unshakable feeling that she was in some sort of trouble. Even the fact that she had been perfectly fine when she'd stopped by his office to have lunch with him (eating lunch together in the office was something they often did on Willy's particularly busy days) less than an hour earlier hadn't allayed his fears.

So there he sat, trying to assure himself that Ronnie was fine and failing miserably. "Oh for whangdoodle's sake! What is the matter with me?" he burst out suddenly, slamming his fist onto his desk. The vibrations of the first-slam caused a nearby cup of pens and pencils to wobble and tip over. Because the cup, like everything else in the office, had been cut in half, the pens and pencils immediately fell out of it and scatted all over the floor, several rolling under the desk. "Fizzy drinks!" the candy maker shouted (he didn't think it proper for the world's greatest chocolatier to curse, so he'd come up with several unique ways to express his frustration).

Sighing, he got down on his hands and knees and began cleaning up the mess he'd caused. Just as he was picking up the last of the pens, someone knocked on the door. Startled, he jumped up...and banged his head on the desk. "OW!" he cried as he got to his feet. At that moment the door opened and Forest, the Oompa Loompa who supervised things in the Wonkavision room, poked his head into the room. "Are you all right, Mr. Wonka?" he asked. "Yes, if you don't count the bump on my head," Willy replied, rubbing the swelling on his scalp. "Sorry about that. I didn't mean to startle you. We were just getting a bit worried. We could hear you clear in the Wonkavision room yelling and banging around," Forest explained.

Willy felt his cheeks redden. "Sorry for being so loud. I just got a little frustrated about something,," he apologized (while thinking, not for the first time, that he really needed to look into sound-proofing his office!). "That's all right, Mr. Wonka," Forest told Willy. Then, noticing the worried look on his boss's face, he asked, "Are you SURE you all right?" "I'm fine, Forest," Willy lied. Forest knew his employer wasn't telling him the truth, but he also knew that pressing the issue wouldn't get him anywhere. "Okay, then. I guess I'll be going," he said. "See you, and I apologize again for the noise," Willy said.

Once Forest had left, Willy sat back down at his desk and tried to calm down. "Willy, pull yourself together! How do you expect to run a meeting in the state you're in?" he reprimanded himself. He took a few deep breaths, hoping that would help. Much to the confectioner's dismay, it didn't. Then, before he had a chance to even so much as consider the next step to take, there was another knock on the door. "Come in," Willy said, noting that the knock, if it was even possible, sounded rather frantic. For the second time in less than ten minutes, the door to his office opened.

When Willy saw who it was that had knocked, his feelings of unease immediately got worse. It was Cocoa, the Oompa Loompa who was Ronnie's personal assistant, that was standing there. The fact that she almost never stopped by Willy's office was concerning enough, but the look on her face made Willy's heart leap into his throat. The tiny woman's expression was one of extreme concern and worry. "Cocoa, what's going on?" Willy asked. "I'm not sure exactly, Mr. Wonka. Your wife just called me and asked me to find you right away. I asked her why, of course, but she wouldn't tell me. She just kept saying, 'You need to find Willy and tell him to come home right now,'. One thing I CAN tell you is that she was clearly panicking and in a great deal of distress. That much was clear from the way she was speaking," Cocoa replied.

Willy leaped out of his chair so quickly that he caused it to topple backwards onto the floor. Paying it no mind, he hurried out of the office. "Thank you, Cocoa. Please let Charlie and the Oompa Loompas know I won't be able to make the meeting today," he called over his shoulder as he practically flew to the glass elevator. Only when he was in the aforementioned object and heading for the apartment that was his and Ronnie's home was he able to begin to process Cocoa's words (his actions in the office had been pretty much adrenaline-directed). Thoughts began racing around in his head. "I guess this is why I've been feeling so uneasy. I KNEW those feelings weren't just my being paranoid. Oh, why won't this thing go faster?" his mind was practically screaming.

Five excruciatingly long minutes later, the elevator arrived at the Wonkas' apartment. Willy yanked the door open and rushed inside. He was greeted by the sound of loud sobs. They seemed to be coming from the direction of the bathroom, so that's where the chocolatier headed. He entered the small room mere seconds later, and the sight that met his eyes caused his stomach to tighten as if someone had just tied a string around it.

Ronnie was sitting in the bathtub, naked from the waist down. That was weird and a bit unsettling in and of itself, but what Willy saw in the area near the tub was downright frightening. Having obviously done her half-stripping right there in the bathroom, Ronnie had left her slacks and panties in the corner by the tub...and the latter had an unmistakable red stain on them. The bathmat also had some red splotches on it. "That would explain why she's sitting in the tub," the candy maker thought grimly.

Pregnancy may have been one of the few subjects in which Willy's knowledge was rather limited, but one thing he did know was that bleeding like Ronnie was experiencing was never a good sign in a woman who was with child. Trying hard not to let the fear that gripped him show, he knelt beside the bathtub and took his wife's hand in his own. "I'm here, sweetheart, I'm here," he said softly. Ronnie turned her head to look at him, her face wet with tears and her eyes red and swollen, indicating that she'd been crying pretty hard for more than just a couple minutes.

"Willy, I think I'm...I'm...I think I'm l-l-losing..." she tried to say through her tears. "Our child," Willy finished for her, his voice gentle and understanding. Ronnie nodded. Then, without warning, she reached out and threw her arms around him, pulling him toward her (very nearly causing him to lose his balance and fall into the tub with her!) and burying her head in his chest. "Shhh, shhh," Willy whispered soothingly as he tenderly stroked his wife's hair. As scared and worried as she was right then, Ronnie couldn't help but feel comforted by her husband's loving, reassuring presence. "We'd b-b-better call Sally," she managed to say. "I'm going to do that right now," Willy assured her as he reached into one of the pockets of his tailcoat and pulled out his WonkaPhone. Without pausing for even a second, he pressed the button that would connect him with Ronnie's doctor.

**WWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW**

Not more than a few minutes after Willy's call, the confectionery couple were sitting in Sally's office (which, thankfully, wasn't far from their living quarters even when traveling by foot). Or rather, Willy was sitting. Ronnie was reclined on the examination table. Sally stood on a stool at the foot of the table (because of her extremely small stature, standing on one was a necessity when it came time to examine her human patient), her face showing sympathy and concern. Because of the urgent nature of the situation, the miniature doctor skipped the greetings and jumped straight into the examination. "Okay, Mrs. Wonka. Now, your husband gave me as good of a description of what's going on as he could, but obviously he couldn't tell me exactly when this started or other details that only you would know. So I need you to fill in the blanks for me," she said.

Ronnie took a deep breath to prepare herself. Then, trying to keep her voice under control (not exactly an easy task considering how frightened and upset she still was!) she said, "Well, I had just returned home from having lunch with Willy in his office. I was sitting in the living room enjoying our Christmas decorations when I suddenly just didn't feel right." Sally held up her hand then, motioning Ronnie to pause. "In what way didn't you feel right?" she asked. "I can't really describe it. I just knew that something was off," Ronnie replied. Sally nodded to let her know she understood. "Go on," she said.

"I went from feeling just a bit of unease to downright panic when I felt a sensation that I normally only experience when my monthly curse arrives and I've neglected to take the proper precautions. I ran into the bathroom, hoping that this was all in my head. I checked, and to my horror, there was blood on my underwear. I was hoping with all my might that it had already stopped, but a toilet paper test proved otherwise," Ronnie told her doctor.

"You haven't been experiencing any cramping or anything of that sort?" Sally asked. Ronnie shook her head. "No, just the bleeding," she said. "All right, Mrs. Wonka. What I'm going to do now is give you a quick pelvic exam. That will tell me if you're still bleeding, among other things. It WON'T, of course, give us a definitive answer about the state of your pregnancy, but at least it's a good starting point," Sally explained to her patient. "Fine with me. At this point, I just want whatever needs to be done to be done," Ronnie said.

Sally wasted no time in conducting the exam. After it was over, she put her instruments away and moved her stool so that she was now standing alongside the table, near Ronnie's head. "I've got some bad news and some good news," she said. "Please, tell me the bad news first. I'd prefer to have it over with as quickly as possible," Ronnie pleaded. "Well, the bad news is that you're still bleeding, Mrs. Wonka," Sally said. "If that's the bad news, then what in the world can the good news possibly be?" Ronnie said irritably. Sally didn't hesitate. "That, from what I can see, the bleeding seems to be letting up quite a bit. With any luck, it will stop before too much longer. I also could not see any evidence of anything suspicious being passed with the blood," she said.

"What does that mean?" Ronnie asked anxiously. "It's hard to tell for sure. But it is definitely a good sign. I can't make any guarantees, of course, but at this point I am guardedly optimistic," Sally said. Then she went over to the other side of the room and rolled a machine over to the examination table (her medical equipment may have been human-sized, but she had made sure to have it specially designed so that she could easily move it on her own). "Obviously at this point there's really only one other thing to do, Mrs. Wonka, and that is to determine the status of your pregnancy. And pretty much the only way to do that is via ultrasound," she informed her patient.

Ronnie had started to relax slightly after hearing Sally make her comments about the bleeding appearing to be stopping. Hearing the doctor announce that she was going to do an ultrasound, however, brought that relaxation to an abrupt end. A lump had formed in her throat and her heart was beating so loudly that she was sure Sally and Willy could hear it. "Oh, gosh, here it is, the moment of truth," she thought. She closed her eyes as Sally applied gel to her abdomen and then began running the probe over it.

Time seemed to grind to a halt as the scan was performed. The fact that Sally was being extremely quiet didn't exactly help to reassure Ronnie, either! Then, just when Ronnie thought that she was about to go crazy from fear and stress, she heard a sound. It was a faint, but rapid and unmistakable, "kaThump, kaThump, kaThump." Hardly daring to get her hopes up, Ronnie opened her eyes and looked at Sally. The petite physician was positively beaming. "Houston, we have a heartbeat!" she announced. Tears once again began falling from Ronnie's eyes, but this time they were tears of joy.

"I n-n-never...I n-n-never." she tried to say. "Knew that a heartbeat could be the most beautiful sound in the world?" Willy supplied, his expression matching Sally's. All Ronnie could do was nod. By that point, she was crying too hard to even try to say anything. "And now I want to show you something. See that tiny little blob-like thing?" Sally asked the couple as she indicated an area of the screen. Ronnie and Willy both peered at it (although Ronnie had to wipe the tears from her eyes first) and, after studying it a bit, nodded. "That's your baby," Sally told them.

"She looks kind of like a little gumdrop," Willy commented. Ronnie was so emotional that she didn't even notice that her husband had once again used a feminine pronoun to describe their baby. "You're right, the baby does sort of look like a gumdrop," she said. Willy wanted nothing more than to hug her right then, but he knew that the fact that Sally was still conducting the ultrasound would make that a bit difficult. Instead he leaned over and gave her a light, feathery kiss. "It seems we've just come up with a nickname for our little one," he said. Ronnie grinned at him. "It definitely appears that way," she replied.

Before Willy had a chance to respond, Sally finished the ultrasound and wiped the gel off Ronnie's belly. "Okay, Mrs. Wonka, you can sit back up now," she said. Pulling the bottom part of her gown back over her stomach, Ronnie did as Sally had instructed. Then she asked the one question that was still weighing heavily on her mind: "If my bleeding didn't mean I was losing the baby, then what DID it mean?" "I honestly don't know, Mrs. Wonka. Sometimes the cause of prenatal bleeding can be easily determined, but other times it remains a mystery. Because I was unable to find anything that would help me pinpoint a cause, your case falls into the latter category," Sally admitted.

"I'm not sure whether to relieved about that or not," Ronnie said. "That's perfectly natural. Now, we know the baby is okay, and there doesn't seem to be anything serious causing the bleeding. However, prenatal bleeding is something that we do need to take seriously. Therefore, I am placing you on pelvic rest for at least three weeks. We'll re-evaluate when you come in next month for your regular check-up," Sally told her. "What does that entail?" Ronnie inquired. "Well, basically it means that you are not to do anything that could put any kind of stress on your pelvic area. That means no running, no lifting anything over five pounds, no abdominal exercises of any kind, no putting yourself in situations where that area of your body could easily get bumped, and..." Sally began.

"Let me guess. For the next three weeks, Willy and I are going to have to abstain," Ronnie spoke up, cutting her doctor off. Luckily, Sally didn't seem to be annoyed by the interruption. "I'm afraid so. Hugging, kissing and cuddling are fine, of course, as long as you make sure to avoid any pressing of your abdominal area. But anything that would put pressure on your abdomen or could cause you to have an orgasm is off-limits," she said firmly. "I can't exactly control my dreams, though. Let's just say that, since I've been pregnant, they've been a bit more on the naughty side," Ronnie said without thinking. Then she immediately clapped her hand over her mouth and blushed. Needless to say, she had NOT meant to disclose that information to Sally!

Sally had to stifle a giggle. "Of course you can't, and if something happens in your sleep, don't worry about it. It wouldn't be ideal, obviously, but it certainly won't be the end of the world, either," she assured Ronnie. "This pregnancy has made me hornier than usual and now Willy and I have to practice complete abstinence! It figures! I know it's what's best for the baby right now, but gosh, this is going to be a LOOOOONG three weeks," Ronnie thought.

But all she said aloud was, "I promise to follow your orders, Sally." "Trust me, three weeks may seem like a long time, but it will be over before you know it," Sally said. Ronnie knew she was just trying to be helpful, but she wasn't amused. "I know it's going to be hard for you, starshine. It's going to be hard for me, too. But we'll get through it," Willy spoke up. "He always knows just the right thing to say!" Ronnie thought as she reached over and hugged him.

**WWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW**

The first few days after the pregnancy scare were filled with a mixture of emotions for both Ronnie and Willy. They were relieved that the baby was okay and that the scare was behind them, but at the same time they weren't feeling quite the holiday joy that they had been before. Though neither of them wanted to admit it, they had both been pretty shaken by the experience. Ronnie was having an especially hard time recovering mentally from the ordeal.

Willy hated seeing his wife going through such a rough time during what was supposed to be one of the happiest times of the year. It also saddened him to see that the enjoyment and happiness her pregnancy had been bringing her before the scare was now all but gone. "I've got to do something really special for her for Christmas, something that will hopefully brighten her spirits a little," he thought. Coming up with the perfect Christmas present for Ronnie proved to be easier said than done, however.

Willy was still pondering the issue of what to do for Ronnie as he and Charlie worked in the Inventing Room. It was four days after the scare, and the candy maker and his protégé were working on their latest creation: eatable, never-melting snow. Their first few attempts did not go well, to say the very least. One of them had ended up causing a "blizzard" which had covered the entire Inventing Room with snow so deep that Charlie had found himself buried nearly up to the waist...and the poor Oompa Loompas had been required to take refuge on top of tables, machines, and any other "higher ground" they could find! Because the snow was too deep for the Oompa Loompas to handle, Charlie and Willy had to clean it up themselves, and it had taken them practically the entire day.

Things were a lot better with the snow now that they had gotten most of the kinks worked out, but the same could not be said about Willy's and Charlie's relationship. Lately, Willy had found himself struggling to understand the boy. Charlie could be filled with Christmas spirit one day and clearly resentful of his mentor the next. That particular day had, so far, been one of his resentful days. He had barely said three words to Willy the entire morning. Now it was afternoon, and the confectioner's patience was beginning to wear thin. "Charlie, how are we supposed to get the snow finished if you won't talk to me?" he asked, an edge of annoyance in his voice.

"Who cares about stupid snow, anyway? Besides, you'll probably just end up abandoning the project, just like you've abandoned practically everything else ever since you got HER pregnant," Charlie retorted. Willy whirled around to face him, the redness and expression on his face leaving no doubt as to the emotion he was currently experiencing. "That's not true and you know it! And if that's how how you feel, then maybe I don't want you to help me with the snow! I'd rather do it myself than work on it with someone who has an attitude like yours!" he yelled. Charlie jumped back as though the candy maker had struck him. Willy rarely even so much as raised his voice, let alone yelled. "You never yell at me," the youngest Bucket said sadly before leaving the room.

Willy let out a loud sigh and sat down at one of the tables. He was absolutely disgusted with himself. He had been under stress because of the scare he and Ronnie had recently experienced, and he had taken it out on an innocent little boy. Charlie may not have been behaving the most appropriately, but that still did not give the chocolatier the right to yell at him like that. "Besides which, I behaved far worse, and far more inappropriately, than Charlie did. Not only did I yell at the poor boy, but I did so in front of the Oompa Loompas. Really, they ought to be ashamed of me right now, and I ought to be ashamed of myself," he mentally scolded himself. He knew that one of the first things he needed to do was apologize to Charlie, but he knew that it was unlikely the boy would be willing to talk to him face to face any time soon. So he decided to write him an apology letter instead. "I can only hope that he'll read it and accept my apology," he thought.

* * *

><p><strong>An: **For those of you wondering how it is that Forest and the other Oompa Loompas in the Televison Room could hear Willy in his office: In the 1971 movie, we see Willy, Charlie, and Grandpa Joe hanging up their "hazard" suits (having presumably just taken them off) just prior to Willy (and shortly thereafter Charlie and Grandpa Joe) entering his office. Assuming that they didn't leave those suits on any longer than neccesary, one can pretty much surmise that Willy's office in the 71 movie is very close to the Television Room. And that's why I figured that the Oompa Loompas in the Television Room would be able to hear Willy yelling and banging around in his office! :)

**Chapter 7 Preview: **Ronnie and Nora Bucket have tea- and a discussion- in the Chocolate Room, and Willy finally comes up with a Christmas present for Ronnie...but will it make her happy like the chocolatier hoped?


	7. Chapter 7: Christmas Cheer

**Disclaimer: **Except for Baby Wonka, nothing in this story belongs to me!

**A/n: **This chapter, for the most part, is a fluffy, feel-good kind of chapter. I figured it would be a good idea to have a little break from the drama and angst of the last chapter, especially since the next chapter will also have a fair amount of that. Anyway, as always, thank you to my one reviewer. I can't say this enough: Please keep those reviews coming! They keep me inspired and they mean a lot to me!

* * *

><p>It was now just one week before Christmas, and the factory was so full of happiness that it was almost in danger of bursting. The grandparents were so full of Christmas spirit that it was as though they'd suddenly become twenty years younger. All four of them were not only out of bed but active virtually every day (that wasn't unusual for Grandpa Joe, but it was for the other three). The Oompa Loompas were acting as though they'd overdosed on cocoa beans. And James and Nora found every excuse they possibly could to "bump into" each other underneath the mistletoe they'd hung in their cottage.<p>

Not everyone was sharing in the holiday excitement, though. Charlie had been in a bad mood ever since Willy had yelled at him in the Inventing Room. He had more or less accepted the chocolatier's letter of apology, but things between mentor and protégé remained shakier than ever. Charlie had also taken to wanting to be alone most of the time he wasn't working with Willy...and that worried Nora. Her son had always much preferred being with his family to being alone, and seeing that preference change so abruptly was a bit alarming.

The matriarch of the Bucket clan was also quite worried about Ronnie (Willy and Ronnie had not told anyone about their scare, so as far as Nora was concerned, there was nothing to explain Ronnie's mood change). Her usually upbeat, cheerful friend had been very down for the last several days, and she'd clearly gone through some sort of experience that had shaken her quite badly. On the one hand, Nora knew that Ronnie could really use her support right then.

But on the other hand, she hadn't said anything about why she felt so down, which made Nora think that perhaps she'd had a big fight with Willy or some other marital or otherwise personal issue. As a result, she found herself torn between wanting to offer comfort to Ronnie and wanting to respect her privacy. As luck would have it, that turned out to be a decision that Nora didn't have to make. Instead, it was pretty much made for her on the Monday of that week before Christmas.

It happened while she was taking an afternoon stroll through the Chocolate Room. She walked past the various candies, stopping every now and then for a nibble. Eventually, she found herself in area with several bushes. "Growing" from these bushes was one of Willy's latest inventions: Candy buttercups filled with a sweet honey and buttermilk tea. Today, however, it wasn't just buttercups that were in that area. Ronnie was seated amongst the bushes, an odd expression on her face. She looked, Nora thought, as if she didn't quite know what to do or feel. "Whatever it is that she's been going through, she's obviously having a hard time trying to figure out how to deal with it," Charlie's mother thought. She knew then that, personal issue or no, she could no longer wait for Ronnie to tell her what was going on.

"Mind if I join you?" she asked. Ronnie shook her head, so she sat down next to her. Then she carefully plucked two buttercups off one of the bushes and handed one to Ronnie. "Willy sometimes calls me his buttercup," Ronnie murmured as she accepted it, not really thinking about what she was saying. Nora knew there was no sense beating around the bush. "I don't mean to pry, but I can tell that something is really bothering you. You haven't been yourself lately," she said gently. Ronnie took a deep breath and turned to face her friend. "You're right, on both count. You deserve to know what's going on and I'm sorry I didn't tell you sooner. Nora, Willy and I nearly lost our baby," she said softly.

Nora was stunned. No wonder her friend was so emotional! "What an awful thing to have to go through! I'm so sorry," she said. "Thanks. It's affected me more than I thought it would. Not only is it just plain scary to think about what almost happened, but Sally told me that she couldn't figure out what was causing my bleeding. And if we don't know what caused the bleeding in the first place, who's to say it won't happen again? Sally put me on pelvic rest to try and prevent that, but I still can't help but worry," Ronnie confessed.

Nora's response took her completely by surprise. "I know exactly what you're going through," she said. "Wait a minute. The only way you could know that is if..." Ronnie started to say. "James and I had a similar experience several years ago. The only difference was that we weren't nearly as fortunate as you and Willy. You see, my pregnancy with Charlie was not my first. Exactly two years before he was born, I had a miscarriage," Nora explained. Now it was Ronnie's turn to be stunned. She'd had absolutely no clue that her friend carried such a sad secret in her heart. She wasn't quite sure what to say or do. Eventually, she settled on the same three words of sympathy that Nora had spoken to her just moments earlier. "I'm so sorry," she said.

"Thank you. The memories of the experience may not cause me the pain they once did, but they still aren't exactly pleasant to think about. And they will always remain with me, right here," Nora said as she placed her hand over her heart. "Gosh, Nora. You've certainly had more than your fair share of bad luck in life," Ronnie said. Nora shrugged. "I've certainly had my struggles, yes, but I've had plenty of good luck, too. One example would be the fact that, two years to the day after the miscarriage, James and I welcomed a healthy baby boy," she said with a grin.

"I wish my attitude could be as positive as yours right now," Ronnie said gloomily. Nora reached out and gave her friend's hand a gentle squeeze. "I know it's hard for you to believe this right now, but the storm WILL pass, the sky WILL clear up, so to speak, and you WILL feel better," she assured her. "I thought that coming here would make me feel better. The Chocolate Room is one of my favorite places in the factory, and likewise, this area is my favorite place in the Chocolate Room," Ronnie admitted.

"I need to try and distract Ronnie a bit. Focusing on her emotional state certainly isn't going to help her feel any better!" Nora thought. "If you don't mind my asking, why is this your favorite area of the Chocolate Room?" she asked. Ronnie's face took on a soft, almost tender look and she even managed a tiny smile. "Well, do you remember the song that Willy and I had as the processional music for our wedding?" she inquired. Nora smiled back. "How could I forget? It was such a beautiful song. 'Pure Imagination' was the name of it as I recall," she said. Ronnie nodded. "Willy likes to sing it to me, and one of his favorite places to do that is here amongst the buttercup bushes. Pardon the pun, but I don't what's sweeter: his singing to me or the look of utter contentment that he gets on his face when when he finishes. There's just something about this room that brings out the best in him," she explained.

Nora was pleased to note that Ronnie seemed to have forgotten about her sadness for the time being. She had what Nora could only describe as a dreamy look on her face. "She reminds me of James and I when we were first married," she thought. "If I had to guess, I'd say that you like Willy to sing you that song as much as he likes singing it to you," she remarked. "That I do. He hasn't sung it to me in here lately, though. We know that Charlie is aware of the fact that we often come to the Chocolate Room during the day, and what with his jealousy issues, we'd rather not make things worse than they already are," Ronnie replied.

"You know, Ronnie, it's interesting you should mention Charlie. I realize he's jealous, which is perfectly natural given the situation. And it probably didn't help matters when Willy yelled at him. But it's unusual for him to be so moody, and for so long. I don't know, I just feel there's something more going on," Nora commented. "I wonder...I don't mean to stick my nose where it doesn't belong, but considering his age..." Ronnie trailed off, unsure of how to finish her sentence. "I know what you're thinking, and I've actually been wondering that myself. I certainly don't want to jump to conclusions, but he IS turning 11 next month, so him being in the early stages of puberty isn't all that far-fetched," Nora agreed.

"If that is indeed the case, that would certainly explain things," Ronnie said. Then she burst out laughing. "It's probably a good thing Charlie can't hear us right now. I imagine he'd be just thrilled if he knew what were discussing!" she giggled. "Yeah, he'd probably be just a little on the embarrassed side," Nora chuckled. "What he doesn't know won't hurt him, I guess," Ronnie said. Nora nodded, then said, "I suppose what I should really do is discuss this with James. I know he's noticed the change in Charlie as well, and he's obviously more equipped to know if puberty could be the culprit than I am."

"I just hope we can figure out whatever behind Charlie's mood change soon. I just want to see him happy again," Ronnie said. "Me, too. The last time I remember him being this down was when he thought he'd lost his chances of finding a Golden Ticket," Nora told her friend. "I can understand a little bit how he must have felt. I wanted to look for a Golden Ticket myself...but working for Slugworth made that pretty much impossible," Ronnie said, shuddering at the mere thought of her former employer.

Then she smiled as she realized that NOT finding a ticket may have been the best thing that had ever happened to her. "In a way, though, I guess I DID find a Golden Ticket. I just found it a bit later than everyone else found theirs," she said, resting her hand on her belly. "It's funny how things work out sometimes," Nora quipped. Neither woman spoke much after that. They just sat there enjoying their tea and the beauty of the Chocolate Room.

**WWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW**

The rest of the week was, for Ronnie, a rather strange one. She'd find herself feeling happy and contented one day...only to be down and very emotional the next day. She also went back forth between being excited that Christmas was fast approaching and having the holiday be the last thing on her mind. It didn't help matters that Willy seemed to be throwing himself into his work more and more the closer it got to the big day. Ronnie knew that her husband was a bit of a workaholic, but this was unusual even for him. He worked so late some nights that Ronnie had fallen asleep by the time he got home and they missed their evening cuddle time on the couch. Whenever Ronnie tried to ask the chocolatier about the sudden change in his work habits, he just muttered something about having to meet holiday deadlines.

If it had been the beginning of December Ronnie MIGHT have believed him. However, she knew that the odds of him still having holiday deadlines to meet when it was less than a week before Christmas were extremely slim. She also knew that it was extremely important to her husband that he get his candy shipments to the stores on time. So, needless to say, she wasn't buying his excuse for even a second! She knew better than to try to press him any further, though.

Instead, she focused on getting ready for the upcoming holiday, which the couple had decided they would spend at home just the two of them (because everyone wanted to spend Christmas with their own families, it had been decided that the "factory family" holiday celebration would be a combination Christmas and New Year's Party that would be held on New Year's Eve). Other than that, however, they hadn't really discussed the holiday that much (of course, they hadn't been discussing much of ANYTHING since Willy had started working like his life depended on it!).

Discussions or no discussions, Ronnie was determined to make her first Christmas with her husband a special one. She spent most of the few remaining days before the holiday brainstorming (which, she noted, wasn't anywhere near as fun as the "Double Wonka" brainstorming that she and Willy often did together!), and on December 23rd, she was ready to put the first of her plans into action. Unbeknownst to her, however, her husband was about to reveal a very special plan of his own.

**WWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW**

Willy hummed to himself as he left his office and headed for the glass elevator. Not only had he managed to get everything done work-wise that needed to be done before Christmas, but he had surprised himself by somehow managing to finish early that day. Instead of working through supper once again, which he had thought he was going to have to do, he found himself completing the last bit of necessary paperwork just before three in the afternoon.

As he arrived at his and Ronnie's living quarters, the chocolatier felt like he might just burst with happiness. He couldn't wait to finally tell Ronnie at least part of the reason why he had been working so late for the better part of the week (not to mention the fact that he knew it would make her happy to see that he was home early for once!)."Bon bon?" he called out, not sure where his wife was at that moment. The response came in the form of what sounded like a container of something or other being knocked over, followed by Ronnie's exasperated voice exclaiming, "Oh, snozzwanger!" Both sounds appeared to be coming from the kitchen. Willy laughed as he entered what was one of his and Ronnie's favorite rooms in the apartment.

"Not exactly the response I..." he began, cutting himself off in mid-sentence when he noticed what Ronnie was doing. She had obviously been making candy of some sort, as the counter was covered with mixing bowls, cooking utensils, and various candy ingredients. A pan was also on the counter, but it had been tipped over, spilling its contents. Willy could tell by the look and smell of the spilled liquid that it was melted chocolate...which his wife was now licking off the counter top with gusto!

Hoping not to startle Ronnie a second time, the candy maker reached out and put his hand on her shoulder. She hurriedly stood up, her cheeks flushed pink. Willy couldn't help but smile as he noticed that some of the melted chocolate had stuck to Ronnie's cheeks and lips. "Your cheeks look like strawberry-flavored, chocolate-coated fudge," he mused. Ronnie turned even pinker. "I guess I don't need to tell you that I've got a huge chocolate craving right now," she said. "I'm not exactly shocked, put it that way," Willy chuckled. Then he remembered that shock was what had caused Ronnie to drop the pan in the first place and quickly added, "I didn't mean to startle you earlier, by the way".

"That's all right. I just didn't expect you home so soon, since you told me at breakfast that you would probably be working past supper again," Ronnie explained. "I probably should have used the WonkaPhone to call you and let you know I was coming, but I wanted to surprise you," Willy said apologetically. "Well, you did...and I wouldn't have it any other way," Ronnie replied, leaning over and tenderly kissing her husband. Willy grinned. "So, what are you making?" he asked, glancing at the items on the counter. "A Christmas candy surprise for you," Ronnie answered. Willy knew that chocolate was obviously involved somehow, but other than that he couldn't tell what type of candy his wife was making. "Now she's got my curiosity alerted!" he thought. "What kind of candy?" he inquired, trying to take a peek in what looked to be the main mixing bowl. Ronnie grabbed it and held it so that he couldn't see into it. "If I told you, it wouldn't be a surprise!" she pointed out.

Knowing that there was no way he was going to get Ronnie to reveal what she had been making, Willy opted to change the subject. "I'll bet you'd like to know the real reason I've been pretty much eating, sleeping and breathing my work lately," he said. Ronnie hid a smile as she remembered how she had heard her husband talking in his sleep about obvious work-related matters on more than one occasion over the past few nights. "You have indeed, and in more ways than just one," she thought. Since she knew that the chocolatier would be mortified if he knew about the sleep-talking incidents, she answered his question with a simple, "Yes, very much so".

"Well, I wanted to make sure I was caught up on all of the end-of-the-year stuff before Christmas. I'd much rather spend the holidays with my wife than with a mountain of yawn-inducing paperwork," Willy explained, his eyes twinkling. Ronnie knew that those sparkling eyes meant only one thing: the man she loved had something up his sleeve. "There's more, isn't there?" she asked. "Not much. Just the fact that having all the end-of-the-year necessities taken care of, there's no real reason I need to go back to work until after New Year's," Willy said, trying (without very much success!) to appear nonchalant

Ronnie pretended to be shocked. "You're actually taking time off from work? The world must be coming to an end!" she joked. "Even chocolatiers need to take breaks every once in awhile," Willy replied, the look in his eyes now downright mischievous. "Okay, Willy, out with it. I know this isn't just about you taking time off," Ronnie said firmly. "I know you're probably all set for us to celebrate Christmas here at home like we planned and won't want to do this, but I was thinking that, since I'm off work for the next week, the two of us could take a little holiday vacation," the confectioner told her, failing miserably at hiding his eagerness.

"Oh, Willy, I'd love that!" Ronnie exclaimed. "I thought you would," Willy said, a smile stretching across his face. "I assume you have a destination already picked out for us," Ronnie stated. "Maybe, maybe not," Willy responded. "Honestly, Willy, you can so stubborn sometimes!" Ronnie chuckled "This coming from the woman who refuses to tell me what kind of candy she's making," Willy playfully retorted. "Okay, okay! I guess we're even, then," Ronnie conceded. Willy responded by doing what he normally did when they had playful disputes like that, which was change the subject. "I'll let the Oompa Loompas know that we're going to be on vacation until New Year's. They can pass the word along to the Buckets. And don't worry, I'm leaving the WonkaPhone here," he said.

"I can't believe I'm saying this, but leaving the WonkaPhone behind might be a bit of a problem," Ronnie told her husband. "Why?" Willy asked. "Because my mom always calls me on Christmas Eve," Ronnie explained. Willy looked sheepish. "I promised my dad I would call him, too. I can't believe I forgot about that!" he groaned. "I suppose we could call them tonight," Ronnie suggested, feeling rather silly that she hadn't thought of that sooner. "I don't see any reason why not," Willy agreed. "Gosh, we still have a lot to do before we leave tomorrow. We've got to call our parents, I need to finish making my candy and then I'll need to clean the kitchen. Not to mention the fact that we need to pack and take care of any last-minute Christmas preparations," Ronnie said.

"You're right. We've got so much time and so little to do," Willy concurred. He realized his mistake at the same time Ronnie did. "Strike that, reverse it," they said together. Laughing, they headed off to take care of their preparations for the trip. Doing so took longer than they thought, and by the time they finally finished everything up it was half past eleven. But even so, Ronnie's last thought before she fell asleep (after practically collapsing into bed) was that morning couldn't come fast enough!

**WWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW**

"Didn't I just go to bed?" Ronnie thought when she groggily opened her eyes on Christmas Eve morning. She wasn't particularly surprised to find that she was still tired after having had a good night sleep. That had, after all, been a common occurrence for her ever since becoming pregnant. She WAS, however, surprised at just HOW tired she felt. "Staying up until practically midnight certainly didn't do me any favors!" she thought, groaning inwardly. When she glanced at the clock, she felt like screaming. "It's only seven! Why in the world did I have to wake up this early?" she wondered.

Before Ronnie could dwell too much on that, she was distracted from her thoughts by a quiet snore (well, as quiet as a snore can be, anyway!) coming from beside her. "The luck duck!" she thought, as she rolled over to face her husband. Despite being a bit jealous that Willy was still snoozing away, she couldn't help but smile when she saw his face. He looked, she thought, as though he didn't have a care in the world. Then, as if to prove her point, the chocolatier let out a soft, contented sigh.

"I wonder if he's dreaming?" Ronnie mused as she snuggled her body into his. Without giving much thought to what she was doing, she reached out her hand and began to gently stroke the candy maker's soft, silky hair. Willy stirred, but much to Ronnie's relief, he didn't wake up. "I should have known that I woke up early for a reason," Ronnie thought happily. Letting out a sigh of her own, she closed her eyes. The next thing she was aware of was her husband's lips pressing gently against her own.

"Good morning, sleepy head," Willy greeted her as she blinked her eyes open. Only then did Ronnie realize that she must have fallen back asleep after snuggling up to him. "I thought I was just resting, but I guess I dozed off again for a few minutes," she said. Willy chuckled softly. "It was more than just a few minutes," he told her. Ronnie instinctively turned to look at the clock...and was shocked to discover that it was now a quarter after ten. She'd been asleep for over three hours! "How long have you been awake?" Ronnie asked the confectioner. "Since about nine-thirty," Willy responded. "And you waited until just now to wake me up? Thanks for letting me sleep a bit longer. I needed it," Ronnie thanked him.

Willy smiled down at her. "I figured as much, considering how late it was when we went to bed last night. I only woke you now because I figured you wouldn't want to sleep too much more of the day away," he said (opting not to mention the other reason he hadn't woken Ronnie right away: he had been enjoying watching her sleep!). "You're right...and you chose the perfect way to do it, too. I couldn't imagine a nicer way to wake up," Ronnie said, smiling back. Willy wrapped his arms around her and pulled her close. "Well, I can't imagine a nicer way to start the day," he said.

Ronnie nodded in agreement. "Ugh, I don't want to get up. But I suppose we'd better, since it's not getting any earlier," she remarked. Willy didn't particularly want to get up, either, but he knew that the sooner they could get to their vacation location, the better. "Just wait until we get to our vacation spot. You're going to love it," he couldn't resist teasing his wife. "I can't believe you STILL won't tell me where we're going. Really, it's like you're dangling one of your chocolate bars just out of my reach," Ronnie replied. The analogy made Willy laugh. "It's not funny!" Ronnie insisted. Within a matter of seconds, however, she was laughing too.

Still giggling, the couple got out of bed and quickly dressed. "Would you like to have breakfast before we head out, or just wait for lunch?" Willy asked Ronnie. "I'll wait for lunch. It's only a couple more hours, and besides, I just want to get started on our vacation," Ronnie answered. Willy grinned. "I thought that might be the case," he said. Once they had finished getting ready for the day, Willy and Ronnie headed for the living room to retrieve their luggage. Ronnie reached for a suitcase, but Willy stopped her. "Remember what Sally said. No lifting anything over five pounds," he chided her. Ronnie rolled her eyes. "Somehow I highly doubt this suitcase weighs five pounds," she said. "Better safe than sorry," Willy insisted.

Ronnie sighed in exasperation as Willy began carrying the suitcases down the hall to the glass elevator. "I know I should be glad he's so attentive, but sometimes it gets annoying!" she thought. It didn't take very much longer for Willy to get the suitcases taken care of, and soon he had returned to the living room. "Ready to go?" he asked. "I think you know the answer to that question!" Ronnie chuckled.

"I just wanted to make sure. Before we leave, though, there's one more thing I have to do," Willy said. "And what's that?" Ronnie inquired. "This," Willy responded as he pulled a piece of cloth out of one his pockets and tied it around Ronnie's head, covering her eyes.

"Willy, I can't see a thing!" Ronnie complained. "Of course you can't. That's the whole point of a blindfold. I wanted to make sure that you'll really be surprised when we reach our vacation area," Willy explained as he began leading his wife down the hallway. "I knew you wanted to surprise me. I just didn't realize you were going to get this extreme," Ronnie said. She was smiling, though, so Willy knew that she wasn't mad. Once they reached the elevator, he helped her sit down before pressing the button for their destination. "We'll be there in just a few minutes," he said.

True to Willy's word, the elevator came to a stop less than five minutes later. Ronnie was very relived. Despite the fact that Sally had assured her that riding in the glass elevator was fine as long as she felt up to it and sat down for the duration of the ride, doing so still made her a bit nervous. "Okay, get ready," Willy said as he helped her stand. Then he escorted her into the room they'd just arrived in. "One...two...three," the chocolatier counted. When he reached "three", he pulled untied the blindfold and removed it from Ronnie's face. Tears of joy came to her eyes as she took in her surroundings.

Willy had taken her to a very special part of the factory. It was known as Dessert Island and it held a lot of meeting for the couple. Willy had taken Ronnie there for both their first date and their honeymoon. It was meaningful for another reason as well: During that first date on Dessert Island, they had shared their first kiss. But the meaning that the area held wasn't the only thing that was bringing tears to Ronnie's eyes. Dessert Island normally looked like a tropical candy paradise. On that day, however, it had been transformed into a winter wonderland. A blanket of snow covered the ground, and more snow was falling from the "sky". And the little candy cottage that sat in the center of the island was decked out in Christmas lights.

"Oh, Willy," Ronnie breathed, unsure what else to say. "Merry Christmas, starshine," Willy replied. Ronnie had to hide a chuckle. Her husband looked just like a little boy who had received the best Christmas present ever! "Thank you so much. This is just...well, words can't describe it, really," she practically whispered (she wasn't sure why, but she didn't feel like talking very loudly right then). "Do you notice anything, well, unusual about this?" Willy asked, indicating the snow. At first, Ronnie couldn't detect anything out of the ordinary. Then it hit her. It was snowing and there was snow covering the ground...but the air wasn't cold. In fact, it was about the same temperature as the air in their apartment.

"It's snowing, but it's not cold," Ronnie answered the candy maker. Willy beamed. "Exactly! That's because this is my latest invention: eatable snow. It looks and feels just like ordinary snow, but you can eat it, and it never melts. It uses the same techniques as my never-melting ice cream," he explained delightedly. "You always come up with the best ideas! Now even kids who live in places where it's warm year-round will be able to play in the snow," Ronnie gushed. "That's the idea," Willy responded. At that moment, something clicked in Ronnie's brain. "Willy, this is the other reason you've been working so late, isn't it?" she asked with a knowing smile. "That would be correct. I had to prefect the snow, and then I had to get Dessert Island all prepared," Willy said.

"Well come on, let's go enjoy the snow!" Ronnie exclaimed. With that, she laid down on the ground and started making a snow angel. Willy happily joined her. After the angels were complete, the couple walked around trying to catch snowflakes on their tongues. Then they built a snowman, using raisins and a carrot from inside the candy cottage for the eyes, nose, mouth and "coat buttons". For the finishing touch, Willy took off his top hat and placed it on the snow man's head...which made Ronnie giggle.

After frolicking in the snow a bit more, they went into the candy cottage. "I don't know about you, but I'm getting a little hungry," Willy spoke up. "I am, too, now that you mention it," Ronnie agreed. "In that case, I'll go and start getting lunch, well, actually, dinner is more like it, ready," Willy said. Ronnie licked her lips eagerly. Her husband didn't cook meals very often, but when he did, they were always beyond delicious. Willy chuckled at Ronnie's eagerness. "It'll be a little while before it's ready," he warned her. "That's all right. I should start unpacking anyway," Ronnie said. "Sounds like a plan to me," Willy said as he headed for the kitchen and Ronnie headed for the bedroom (Willy had moved the suitcases back there when he'd come in to retrieve the stuff for the snow man).

Once in the kitchen, the chocolatier began taking pots out of cupboards and ingredients out of the fridge and pantry, whistling as he did so. "I can't wait to see her face when she sees what I'm fixing," he thought. Just as he was starting to put some of the ingredients into of the pans, a scream of anguish pierced the air. With Willy and Ronnie being the only two people in the cottage, it didn't take a rocket scientist to figure out who the scream had come from. Nearly dropping the pan on the floor, Willy ran for the bedroom, hoping and praying that his wife was all right.

* * *

><p><strong>An: **I know, I know, darn cliffhanger! I actually didn't originally intend for the chapter to end that way. But the thing about writing stories is that they sometimes take on a mind of their own and as a result some parts come out a bit differently than you intially intended. The second half or so of this chapter more or less wrote itself. I guess this was how my subconcious wanted it to be...cliffhanger and all! I'll try not to leave you hanging for too long, don't worry!

**Chapter 8 preview: **Willy discovers the extent of the painful emotions that Ronnie has been keeping from him, and the "Factory Family" Christmas/New Year's party gets off to a rocky start when the chocolatier and his dad have a spat.


	8. Chapter 8: Chocolate Love

**Disclaimer:** Baby Wonka belongs to me, nothing else in this story does!

**A/n: **Well, it's that time again. Time for another update, that is! This chapter is shorter that most of the others, but I feel that it's intensity more than makes up for what it lacks in length! As I warned you last chapter, this chapter has a lot of emotional drama, angst, or whatever you want to call it. Hopefully you'll still find it enjoyable, though! Well, there's really not much else to say other than that a big thanks goes out, as always, to my one reviewer for the last chapter. And of course, I love reviews so please keep them coming! :)

* * *

><p>When Willy arrived in the bedroom, the fear that he had been feeling quickly turned to sadness and concern. Ronnie was seated on the bed, a zip-loc bag of something or other in her lap. Her eyes were moist with unshed tears and it was obvious to Willy that she was in a great deal of emotional pain. The candy maker sat down on the bed and carefully removed the bag from his wife's lap. Right away it became obvious to him what was inside: chocolate that had broken into several pieces. "That was supposed to be your Christmas present," Ronnie said softly.<p>

Willy knew then that the broken chocolate was the remains of the candy Ronnie had been making the night before. "This is what you were making last night, isn't it?" he inquired. Ronnie nodded. "It was a large W, meant to look like the W in your signature. It had three layers, each a different flavor, to represent our family: you, me, and our little gumdrop. It guess it somehow managed to break during the trip here, because when I opened my suitcase, it was in pieces," she explained, her words laced with anguish.

To say that the chocolatier was touched by what his wife had done was an understatement. "Thank you, starshine. What a wonderful gift," he said. "But it's broken," Ronnie said dejectedly. "Yes, but it's the thought that counts. Much as I would have loved to be able to see the candy in one piece, the fact that you were thoughtful enough to make something so special matters more to me than the fact that the object in question is now broken," Willy assured her.

"Now I have nothing to give you for Christmas, though. I can't even give myself to you, thanks to being on pelvic rest. Meanwhile, look what you've given me. Our vacation here, Dessert Island blanketed in snow, not to mention the fact that you were about to make me dinner before this incident happened...and I don't deserve any of it," Ronnie uttered, her voice still soft and sad. Then, speaking so quietly that her husband could barely hear her, she added, "I hate myself".

Hearing Ronnie speak so harshly about herself made Willy's heart ache. His first instinct was to tell her not to talk about herself that way, but he knew that probably wasn't the most helpful thing to say right then. Instead he asked her a question, "Why are you beating yourself up, starshine?" "Because I deserve it after what I put us through earlier this month!" Ronnie replied, her words emerging in a near-shout. Willy's heart may have been aching before, but now he felt as though someone had just reached into his chest and pulled it clean out.

He had suspected that Ronnie's negative feelings weren't being caused simply by the broken chocolate, and he knew that she had still not completely emotionally recovered from the scare they had experienced a few weeks earlier. However, now he realized that she had been suffering far more than she had been letting on. Even more heart-wrenching was the other thing that Ronnie's words had made clear to him: she blamed herself for the near loss of their child. Obviously she had been trying, for whatever reason, to keep those things from him, but now it was crystal clear that the pain that she had been hiding had finally become too much for her to bear.

Without so much as stopping to think about what he was doing, Willy reached over and gently took his emotionally fragile wife in his arms. As Ronnie collapsed into his hold and looked up at him, the candy maker could tell that she was barely managing to keep her tears at bay. "Don't hold back, sweetheart. Just cry," he told her. That simple gesture was all it took. The droplets of moisture that had Ronnie had refused to let fall earlier began freely streaming down her cheeks. She buried her face in her husband's chest and wound her arms around him, holding onto him for dear life as loud, painful sobs wracked her body.

"I don't think I've ever seen someone cry so hard before," Willy thought as he held Ronnie close. Seeing the woman he loved in such agony was one of the worst experiences the chocolatier had ever had to endure. Even the day he had delivered the news to his workers that he was closing the factory hadn't been as bad. Reaching out his hand, the confectioner began carefully stroking his wife's hair. Then, in a soft, calming voice, he sang, "_Come with me, and you'll be, in a world of pure imagination..._" Still singing, he started to gently rock back and forth, his beloved still wrapped securely in his arms.

Ronnie had always loved it when Willy sang that song to her, but now she found it downright soothing. It was so soothing, in fact, that Ronnie felt yet another emotion creeping into the mix she already felt: sheer and utter relief. Keeping her incredibly distressing feelings bottled up had been affecting her far more than she'd realized. She knew now that hiding them had been the worst thing she could possibly have done. Instead of doing what she should have done, which was talk to someone about her feelings, she had allowed them to build until they overwhelmed her. In doing that, she had also effectively prevented herself from being able to heal from the experience that had caused all of her emotions in the first place. "No wonder I'm such a mess!" she thought.

As Ronnie contemplated what she had done (or rather not done!) and how best to proceed in regards to the situation, her ears were filled with Willy's rendition of the last lines of their favorite song: "_There is no life I know to compare with pure imagination. Living there, you'll be free, if you truly wish to be_". Her tears now beginning to fade, Ronnie removed her head from her husband's chest and turned it so that she was looking up into his loving eyes. "Thank you, Willy," she said. "For what? The song?" the chocolatier inquired. "Yes, for the song, but also for enabling to me finally let out all those decidedly unpleasant emotions I've been carrying around these past few weeks. I should have done that a long time ago. Initially I just plain didn't want to talk about it, I suppose. Then you got crazy busy with work and...I don't know, I guess I just didn't think it would be right of me to add my emotional baggage to the list of things you were already dealing with," Ronnie replied.

"Starshine, I don't care how busy I am. There's no reason for you to make yourself suffer like that," Willy said firmly. "I know. To be perfectly honest, I sort of thought you might think I was over-reacting or ungrateful or something," Ronnie confessed. "Now why in the world would I think that?" Willy asked. Ronnie shrugged. "Well, considering we DIDN'T lose the baby, I guess I figured that you'd think I should count my blessings instead of focusing on the negative," she said. The chocolatier looked directly into her eyes. "That's as silly as nest of hornswagglers!" he exclaimed. Ronnie couldn't help but laugh. Her husband was always coming up with the weirdest analogies!

Before she could say anything, Willy spoke again. "I know I may not have showed it, but our scare affected me, too. Although I did legitimately have more work than usual to do this past week, I also have to admit that I was using work as a way to take my mind off what had just happened to us," he admitted. Ronnie looked shocked. "Really? I mean, I know you were emotional on the day it happened, I could see that. But I thought that you got over it pretty quickly," she said. "Not at all. I may not have been as affected as you were, but believe me, I was affected. Walking into the bathroom to find you crying in the tub is not something I'll soon forget, put it that way," the chocolatier told her.

"I had no idea. I felt so alone in my feelings, and here it turns out..." Ronnie said softly, finding herself unable to finish her sentence. "You're NOT alone in this, and don't for one second think that you are, my sweet bon bon," Willy insisted. For the second time in less than ten minutes, tears began streaming down the cheeks of the female half of the candy loving couple. This time, however, they were mostly tears of relief. "You have no idea how badly I needed to hear that," Ronnie said. "I wouldn't be too sure about that," Willy responded, giving his wife's shoulder a gentle squeeze. He followed this by bending his head down and planting a loving kiss on her lips. Ronnie was quick to reciprocate, and the couple kept their lips intertwined for several minutes.

By the time they broke the kiss, Ronnie had come to a decision. Although she had opened up to Willy about her feelings, all she had really told him was that she was emotional (and thanks to her crying, it wasn't like he hadn't already figured that out for himself!). She hadn't really told him just what it was that had been going through her head the past couple of weeks. It was now time, Ronnie knew, to do just that. She couldn't very well expect to heal if she couldn't even been honest with her husband! Taking a deep breath, she spoke: "Willy, I'm scared I might start bleeding again. I also worry that, if I do..." Unable to bring herself to continue, she allowed her words to trail off.

"We won't be as fortunate as we were this time around," Willy finished for her. Ronnie nodded, her eyes becoming moist yet again. "I know Sally said that the baby is okay and everything is more or less normal as far as she can tell. I trust her, but even so, I don't think I'm going to feel completely at ease until this baby is actually in my arms. Gosh I wish July would hurry up and get here!" she admitted. "I know, buttercup, I know," Willy soothed her. Then he reached into one of his tailcoat pockets and extracted a small wrapped box. "This may not be much, but hopefully it will bring you some much-needed comfort," he said, handing it to his wife.

The corners of her lips turning up into a smile, Ronnie began carefully unwrapping the package. "Really, he's spoiling me! I can't exactly say I mind, though," she thought. With the wrapping paper now removed, she opened the box. There, nestled on a bed of a soft, cotton-like substance was a necklace. But this wasn't just any old ordinary necklace. Hanging from the delicate gold chain was a heart-shaped pendant. Nestled in the center of the pendant (which, like a cookie cutter, was just the edges of the shape) was another, smaller pendant. This one was red...and in the shape of a gumdrop.

Ronnie felt a lump lodging in her throat as she looked down at the piece of jewelry her husband had just given her. She had been practically giddy with joy when she had discovered that Dessert Island was their vacation destination, and she had been touched when Willy had announced that he was going to cook dinner. The necklace that now lay in front of her, however, meant far more to her than either of those things ever could have. She wanted more than anything to tell Willy so...but the lump in her throat refused to allow any words to come out. So she communicated her feelings in the only other way she could think of: by wrapping the confectioner in a warm embrace.

"I guess I don't need to ask you how like your present," Willy said, quietly chuckling. Ronnie shook her head. Then, finally, she managed to find her voice. "That necklace may be the 'simplest" of the Christmas gifts you've given me, but it means more to me than words could ever say," she said softly. Willy smiled. "Do you know why I chose to make the gumdrop red?" he asked. Ronnie shook her head once again. "No, why?" she responded. "Because red is the color of love...and it was our love that created our little gumdrop. That's also why I chose to 'frame' the gumdrop with a heart," Willy explained, gently placing his hand on his wife's abdomen.

"I miss how he used to squeeze my belly when he touched it. Darn old pelvic rest!" Ronnie thought. Opting not to speak those thoughts allowed, she instead leaned over and pressed her lips to Willy's (while taking care not to squish his hand between them!). The chocolatier eagerly returned the favor and what happened next took them both by surprise. In an attempt to intensify the kiss, Ronnie leaned forward a bit. However, she got a bit carried away and ended up causing Willy to fall over backwards onto the bed. This, in turn, caused Ronnie to fall as well...and land directly on top of the candy maker.

The couple couldn't help but laugh a bit at the irony of the situation. They had just been literally thrust into a rather intimate situation...which was exactly what they were supposed to be AVOIDING at the moment! Fighting to keep her feelings under control, Ronnie carefully rolled off of Willy. Then she looked up at him...and promptly yawned rather obviously. Her cheeks flushed pink. "Sorry about that. I'm just really tired all of a sudden," she apologized. "I can see that," Willy chuckled. But then he grew serious. "Considering everything you just went through, you're probably emotionally drained. That's to be expected," he said.

Ronnie had to smile at her husband's choice of words. "And to think, it was expecting that caused all that emotional draining in the first place," she said, nuzzling up against the confectioner. Willy didn't say anything, but instead embraced her with one arm and ever so gently rubbed her belly with the other (Sally had assured them that that much was okay, as long as Willy was careful not to press down or squeeze while he was rubbing). Neither half of the duo felt like saying anything more. They simply cuddled together...and within minutes, they had both fallen fast asleep.

**WWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW**

All in all, the remainder of Willy's and Ronnie's vacation was fairly uneventful (much to their relief!). They played in the snow, had lots of cuddles in front of the fireplace, wondered together what next Christmas was going to be like as a family of three, and took turns cooking meals for each other. But perhaps their favorite part of the vacation was their nighttime ritual. When it was time for them to hit the hay, one or the other of them would "accidentally" turn the thermostat down a bit too low, resulting in them having to snuggle up together under the covers for warmth (and naturally, they were always "too tired" to turn the thermostat back up!).

The couple only had one complaint about their vacation...and that was that it went by far too quickly. Before they knew it, New Year's Eve had arrived and they were preparing for the "factory family" Christmas/New Year's party. They had assumed that doing so would be a fairly straight-forward task, and for Willy it was. Ronnie, however, was facing a rather interesting dilemma. Having just finished showering and blow-drying her hair, she had returned to the bedroom to dress...only to discover that her pregnancy was already beginning to create difficulties in that department. Since she wasn't even three months along yet, her stomach was still fairly flat. But the upper part of her torso was a different story.

To say that being pregnant had made her rather buxom was an understatement (of course, it didn't help matters any that she wasn't exactly small in that particular region of her body to begin with!). Making matters even more complicated, her pregnancy had also made that part of her body rather sore. As a result, finding a dress that wouldn't make her look like a porn star or bother her already tender chest was proving to be a challenge (to say the very least!). Just when she was about to give up, she finally managed to find something half-decent. "This dress still makes me look like something out of a romance novel and it doesn't exactly offer the best support, but at least I can tolerate it and it doesn't look like I'm about to pop out the top of it!" she thought.

At that moment, an impressed-sounding whistle filled the air. Jolted out of her musings, she turned around and saw Willy standing nearby, a towel wrapped around his waist. He had just gotten done taking his turn in the shower...and clearly didn't share Ronnie's feelings about the dress! "You look positively delicious!" he exclaimed. "Obviously you've noticed that my dress is accentuating certain things," Ronnie said, her cheeks taking on a pinkish tinge. "I'd have to be blind not to," Willy replied, seemingly unable to keep his eyes off of his wife's pregnancy-enhanced assets.

"At least he's happy with the way my dress is making me look. That makes one of us," Ronnie silently said to herself. She opened her mouth to explain the situation to Willy, but the chocolatier spoke before she could. "If we weren't under doctor's orders to keep things low-key, I'd say you were using that dress as a means of tempting me," he said. Ronnie rolled her eyes. "I'm wearing this dress because it's the only one that doesn't make it look as though the girls are plotting an escape. Even so, I still look..." she started to say. "Scrumdiddlyumptious," Willy offered.

"That's very flattering, Willy, but I'm not exactly looking forward to going to dinner looking like this. I mean, it's embarrassing to think of your father seeing me like this, not to mention the Buckets and the Oompa Loompas!" Ronnie told her husband. Willy knew she had a point, and although he'd never thought of himself as the possessive type before, he had to admit that he didn't exactly relish the thought of the rest of the "factory family" seeing his wife in such a provocative state. Then he had an idea. He went over to Ronnie's side of the closet and, after a bit of rummaging around, found the object he had been looking for: a shawl.

"Here, try this," he said, handing the shawl to its owner. "Now why didn't I think of that myself?" Ronnie thought as she put it on. Turning to look in look in the mirror, she breathed a sigh of relief when she saw that the shawl had given her back her modesty. "Willy, what would I do without you?" she asked, giving her husband a grateful smile. Instead of speaking, Willy leaned over and kissed her. "I hope we never have to find out," he said after pulling away.

**WWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW**

Ronnie's near wardrobe malfunction had cost the couple more time than they'd realized. Consequently, they arrived in the Chocolate Room to find that everyone else was already there and the party had started without them. "Well there you two are! We were starting to worry!" Nora exclaimed. "Sorry about that. We got a little held up," Ronnie apologized. "Willy was busy with work again, I suppose," Dr. Wonka spoke up. "Dad, I told you when I called you right before Christmas that I'm off until the 2nd," Willy reminded his father. "I know, but you also told me that you had been working like crazy right up until Christmas, and I know what a workaholic you can be," Dr. Wonka pointed out.

"Yes, I can be a workaholic, but I'll have you know that I haven't so much as set foot in my office since the day before Christmas Eve. I wanted to spend the holidays with my wife, and that is exactly what I've been doing," Willy said, more than a hint of defensiveness in his voice. "You're more than ten minutes late, though. What else could possible hold you up for so long?" Dr. Wonka asked. "If you must know, we had a bit of a situation in the bedroom," Willy replied without thinking. "A bit of a situation in the bedroom, eh?" Dr. Wonka replied, raising his eyebrows. Willy blushed crimson. "When will I learn to think before I open my big mouth?" he mentally scolded himself.

Despite having promised herself to stay out of the argument, Ronnie found herself coming to her extremely flustered husband's defense. "Not that it's really any of your business, Wilbur, but it wasn't that kind of situation. I'm on pelvic rest, remember?" she interjected (she and Willy had told their parents about their scare and the restrictions that had resulted from it during their Christmas phone calls), looking Dr. Wonka straight in the eye.

If there was one thing Veronica Wonka's father-in-law had learned about her in the less than half a year he'd known her, it was that it wasn't like her to lie, especially about something as trivial as this. He knew she was telling him the truth. "I guess I shouldn't have just jumped to conclusions like that. But considering the fact that following doctor's orders has never been Willy's strong suit, you can't blame me for wondering for a minute there," the dentist replied, trying to make light of the rather awkward situation.

Willy, however, was not amused. "I can't believe that you would think even for one second that I would deliberately do something that could hurt my wife or our child! I know we haven't been back in each other's lives for very long, but I would certainly hope that you know me well enough to know that I'm not that kind of person!" he exploded. "And throwing yourself into work instead of spending time with your wife while she was recovering physically and emotionally from having nearly miscarried isn't hurting her? I'd say you've made your priorities pretty clear, Willy," Dr. Wonka responded, his tone harsh and cold.

"Dad, I spent as much time with Ronnie as I could. But in case you've forgotten, I DO have a factory to run," Willy said tersely. "Your work should never be more important than your family," Dr. Wonka insisted. "Nothing is more important to me than my family!" Willy snapped. "Well you sure aren't acting like it!" Dr. Wonka said, exasperation more than evident in his voice. Willy glared at his father. Enough was enough, and he wasn't going to sit there and take it any longer. "Stay out of my business! Just stay out!" he yelled. Then he turned on his heel and stomped off. Giving Dr. Wonka an apologetic look, Ronnie followed her angry husband.

* * *

><p><strong>An: **Whew! I told you this was a rather loaded chapter! The next chapter, thankfully won't be quite as heavy. There will be some emotional moments, but the overall tone will be a bit lighter (I hope, anyway!). That's about it, I guess!

**Chapter 9 preview: **With a little help from Ronnie's mother, Sylvia, Dr. Wonka sorts through his emotions (and we learn a tiny bit about Ronnie's and Willy's pasts!)...and as Ronnie helps Willy do the same, the couple recieves a special visitor.


	9. Chapter 9: Bittersweet

**Disclaimer: **I own Baby Wonka...and absolutely nothing else in this story!

**A/n: **Well, I'm finally posting another chapter! As promised, this one has nowhere near the drama of the last one! While there ARE a few slightly darker moments, it's overall a very "light" chapter. Also, this chapter is slightly differently than the others in that our main protagonists (Willy and Ronnie) don't appear at all until the second half of the chapter. The first half of the chapter focuses instead on Willy's father and Ronnie's mother. Hopefully I did an okay job with that and you enjoy getting a bit more insight into their characters! A big thank you goes to my one reviewer as always, and of course you know that reviews are like chocolate for me in that I can't enough of them! ;)

* * *

><p>Dr. Wonka pondered his bitter exchange with Willy as he watched the younger man storm off. Although he realized that it probably hadn't been right of him to stick his nose in his son's business, he still felt resentment toward the chocolatier. Wondering why it was that Willy refused to understand his rationale, he nearly jumped when he felt a hand on his shoulder. "Wilbur?" a gentle, familiar female voice spoke. The dentist turned in the direction of the voice and found himself looking into the kindly blue eyes of Sylvia Wells. "I suppose you heard the whole argument?" he inquired.<p>

"Yes, and most likely so did everyone else. You weren't exactly quiet about it," Sylvia pointed out. "I wasn't exactly quiet about it? Willy was the one who was doing all the yelling, not me" Dr. Wonka responded. "Wilbur, it doesn't really matter who did what. The point is that you were both very loud," Sylvia said firmly. "Why won't he understand?" Dr. Wonka burst out. "I understand your frustration, but I don't think this is the best place to discuss it," Sylvia told him, indicating the tables that were set up just a few feet away. "I see your point," Dr. Wonka said. "We need to go somewhere a little more private to talk, and I know just the place," Sylvia replied, motioning for Dr. Wonka to follow her.

Not more than a few minutes later, Sylvia and Dr. Wonka were sitting in a quiet, secluded area of the Chocolate Room not far from the waterfall (while it was quite loud by day, the Oompa Loompas switched it to a much slower, "resting" flow rate at night, making it a rather tranquil area to relax in the evenings). "Honestly, Sylvia, sometimes I just don't get my son. What's his problem, anyway?" Dr. Wonka confided to his friend. "I'll agree that Willy could have handled things a bit better, but I don't think he's the one with the problem, Wilbur," Sylvia said gently. "So basically, what you're saying is that I'M the one who has the problem," Dr. Wonka said, feeling somewhat annoyed.

"I wouldn't have put it so bluntly, but yes, basically. Wilbur, be honest. You've been feeling somewhat resentful of Willy, and to a certain extent Ronnie, ever since they announced that they're going to be parents," Sylvia insisted. "Why would I resent my son and daughter-in-law for having a baby together? That's ridiculous!" Dr. Wonka exclaimed. Sylvia realized then that her hunch had been right. Dr. Wonka did not want to admit the true reason behind his less-than-warm feelings toward Willy and Ronnie even to himself. "You're resentful of them because watching them go through this pregnancy together reminds you of another happy, loving couple who, some thirty-six odd years ago, were preparing to welcome THEIR first child. Only that couple's story didn't have a happy ending, and as a result those memories are painful for you," she said gently.

Dr. Wonka looked at his friend, his expression one of both sadness and defeat. "You're speaking of Mina and me, aren't you?" he asked. Sylvia nodded affirmatively. Much as Dr. Wonka wanted to say that his friend was wrong, that he wasn't feeling resentful of Willy and Ronnie because seeing them together made him miss his wife, he knew she was right. He had loved Wilhelmina Wonka more than life itself ever since he first met her. They were apart so rarely that their neighbors joked that they ought to just glue themselves together. To say that Wilhelmina's death hit her husband hard was an understatement. Dr. Wonka had been heartbroken, and even the tincture of time hadn't completely healed the pain of losing her. As he sat there contemplating all this, he was surprised to find a memory suddenly popping into his mind. It was a memory of a day several years ago, when he and his beloved Mina had been talking excitedly about their unborn child's future...

_Wilhelmina Wonka sighed happily. She and Dr. Wonka were sitting on the patio behind their house taking advantage of a beautiful spring day. It was May, and Mina (as her husband and friends called her) couldn't have been happier. Spring was gradually giving way to summer (which was always her favorite time of year), she was with the man she loved, and she was due to give birth to their first child in just two months' time. There was no doubt about it, life couldn't get much better than this. Resting her hand on her extremely round, protruding midsection, she smiled and let out another contented sigh._

"_What are you thinking about, dear?" Dr. Wonka asked, noticing the peaceful, contented expression on his wife's face. "Oh, just how happy I am right now. I love this time of year, and this year it's even more special because we have our little munchkin on the way," Mina replied. Dr. Wonka smiled. "Why does it seem that these last two months are the longest so far?" he wondered aloud. "Well, for me it's probably because I've got a watermelon inside me that likes to sit on my bladder and kick up a storm. Not to mention the fact that even walking is a bit of a challenge when you're about the size of a blimp and can't even see your feet! For you it's probably because you've got a crazy, hormonal woman for a wife right now," Mina joked._

_Dr. Wonka laughed. "You've got a point. Usually I only need to deal with that once a month," he teased. "Wilbur! That's not very nice!" Mina chided, playfully bopping her husband on the shoulder. Realizing he'd probably better not push his luck, Dr. Wonka opted to change the subject. "You know, I've been thinking. You were born on May 14th and I on June 15th. Wouldn't it be something if our baby was born on July 16th?" he pondered. "That WOULD be quite the coincidence," Mina agreed. Then she decided to bring up something SHE'D been thinking about. "What do you suppose our baby will be like?" she mused._

"_I don't know...but he or she will definitely have good teeth. I'll make sure of that," Dr. Wonka said. "I'm sure you will," Mina responded, rolling her eyes. "Well, it wouldn't be very good for a dentist's child to have bad teeth now, would it?" Dr. Wonka pointed out. Mina groaned in exasperation. She loved her husband dearly, but that didn't mean that she liked or agreed with his obsession with perfect teeth! While she agreed that keeping one's teeth healthy was important, she didn't believe in, for example, avoiding certain foods to accomplish that task. Brushing, flossing, and twice-yearly dental visits worked just fine as far as she was concerned. But then, that wasn't really that surprising considering one simple and ironic fact: While Dr. Wonka was a dentist who didn't approve of candy (although he didn't despise it QUITE as much then as he would in later years!), his wife had the world's biggest sweet tooth and couldn't get enough of it._

_It was as though Dr. Wonka had read Mina's thoughts, because suddenly he smiled and said, "I should have known our baby's teeth were the last thing on your mind. Knowing you, you'll have the kid whipping up pastries and candies before he or she can even walk!" Mina couldn't help but chuckle. It was no secret that she liked making candy and other sweets every bit as much as she liked eating them. She liked it so much, in fact, that she had worked as a cashier in a candy store as a teenager and had seriously considered opening her own candy company more than once. And just as she often teased Dr. Wonka about his obsession with perfect teeth, he often teased her about her obsession with candy. "Let's just say I intend to introduce our child to the candy-making process sooner rather than later," she said, her eyes twinkling._

_Mina had, of course, fully expected her husband to make some teasing remark in response. But before he had a chance to do so, she got an altogether different kind of response...a series of thumps in her abdomen. "The second I mention candy he starts kicking up a storm! I think we've got a future chocoholic on our hands!" she giggled (the Wonkas didn't know if it was a boy or a girl they'd be welcoming, but often ended up referring to the baby as "he" out of convenience.). "We'll see about that!" Dr. Wonka countered. Despite his best efforts to look stern, however, Mina could tell that he was struggling to keep from smiling. "You know, I wouldn't trade the way things are right now for anything," she said. Dr. Wonka had to agree..._

"Wilbur? Are you there?" Sylvia asked suddenly, jolting Dr. Wonka out of his flashback. "Sorry about that, I was just thinking," he said, shaking himself as though he was trying to wake up. Sylvia smiled. She'd had a hunch that her friend had been having a flashback, and now he had all but confirmed it. "About Mina?" she asked (given what they had been discussing just prior to Dr. Wonka's flashback, it was pretty easy for Sylvia to figure out that the dentist had been thinking about his wife. But she had opted to ask him the question anyway, as she figured that was the least intrusive way of talking to him about it.). Dr. Wonka nodded. "Yes. I was remembering a beautiful spring day that we spent talking out on the patio. It was just two months before Willy was born," he said.

"A bittersweet memory, I'm sure," Sylvia sympathized. Dr. Wonka nodded once again. "Sylvia, I owe you an apology. My behavior earlier was completely out of line. I guess I HAVE been feeling a bit resentful of Willy and Ronnie, and you were right to call me out on it. Plain and simple, I reacted the way I did because I didn't want to hear the truth," he admitted. Sylvia put her arm around him. "I have a feeling that you also didn't want to tell me how you felt because you were worried that I might think less of you for being resentful of your own son," she said. "I thought you'd think that I was being selfish, or that I was weak or something. After all, what kind of father resents his own son for simply having a baby with his wife?" Dr. Wonka conceded.

Instead of answering the dentist directly, Sylvia decided to make a confession of her own. "Wilbur, I'm going to tell you a little secret. As happy as I am for Ronnie and Willy, sometimes I can't help but feel a twinge of jealousy towards my daughter," she told him. "Why?" Dr. Wonka asked. "Because she has a loving husband to share her pregnancy with...an experience that I didn't really get to have. After all, Henry was only alive for four months of my pregnancy, and he was sick the majority of that time. Really, aside from the conception, the only part of the pregnancy that he was able to share and be an active part of was finding out about it," Sylvia explained.

Dr. Wonka was shocked. Sylvia Wells was many things...but jealous had never been one of them. In fact, she was one of the most selfless, understanding people he knew. She was also one of the strongest. "You? Jealous? You're one of the least jealous people I know! And as strong as you are, I have trouble believing you'd let something like this get you down!" he exclaimed. Sylvia shook her head, a wistful look coming over her face. "I know you think I'm strong, Wilbur, and maybe I am sometimes, but I'm not nearly as strong as you'd think," she said. "Nonsense! It takes a very strong person to go through everything you've been through. In fact, I still don't quite understand how you managed to keep it together so well during Henry's illness and death. I certainly can't say the same thing about myself with regards to Mina's passing," Dr. Wonka insisted.

Sylvia looked at her friend, her blue eyes filled with pain and sadness. "You think I kept it together? Hardly. Sure, I may have appeared that way on the outside. I put on a brave face and when it was absolutely necessary for me to go out in public, I switched into auto-pilot mode and did what I had to do to at least appear to be a functioning member of society. But deep down inside I was a wreck," she explained. Dr. Wonka wasn't sure what to say. Deciding that it was best for him to keep his mouth shut for the time being, he put his arm around Sylvia, just as she had done to him a few minutes earlier. Take this as a sign that the dentist was more than willing to continue listening, Ronnie's mother began to speak again.

"You know that saying "the pen is mightier than the sword'"? It wasn't really something I ever thought much about...until two simple words practically paralyzed me and made me feel as though the world was spinning out of control. They were the words 'it's cancer'. I have never felt so helpless and powerless in my life as when Henry's doctor delivered that horrible news to us," she confessed. Still unsure of what to say, Dr. Wonka gave her shoulder a reassuring squeeze. Before she had a chance to even think about what she was going to do or say next, Sylvia's mouth began to move almost on it's own. "Knowing that I was basically watching Henry die and that there was nothing I could do for him other than hold his hand was the hardest thing I've ever had to do. Strong was the last thing I was right then. I'm not invincible, Wilbur, far from it," she practically whispered.

The shock that Dr. Wonka had felt earlier was nothing compared to what he felt now. The fact that Henry's passing had been hard on Sylvia was hardly news to him. He had, after all, seen the evidence of that firsthand when the two friends were helping each other through their respective losses. But the full magnitude of her pain hadn't been made clear to him until now. "Oh, Syl. I knew you struggled, but I had no idea just how deep the scars of those struggles were," he said. "No one did. Up until now I had never told a soul the true extent of my emotional battle during Henry's final months. I didn't even tell Mina, and as you know, we normally told each other everything," Sylvia responded.

Only after she had finished speaking did it occur to her that Dr. Wonka had not addressed her the way he normally did. Instead, he had used a name that only one other person had called her. "Wait a minute. You called me 'Syl' just now...which you ordinarily refuse to do because of not thinking it proper to use the nickname that only my husband ever called me," she pointed out. "I know, and I hope I didn't come across as being too forward. I don't know why, but all of a sudden calling you that just felt right to me ," Dr. Wonka said apologetically. "You don't have to apologize. You weren't being forward at all. Hearing you call me that took me a bit by surprise, but I don't mind. And I doubt Henry would mind either, especially after all these years. We're very good friends, after all, and it's not unusual for friends to have nicknames for each other," Sylvia assured him.

"That may be the case, but Sylvia had a point when she said I normally shy away from calling her that nickname. So why did I feel so comfortable doing it now?" Dr. Wonka wondered silently. Could it be, he pondered, that the dynamic between them had shifted somehow? "Or am I just going crazy and reading way more into this than I need to?" he thought. Shrugging it off, he decided to change the subject before things got awkward. "You know what the strangest thing about that day I was remembering earlier was?" he asked. "No. What?" Sylvia replied, shaking her head.

"Well, Mina's birthday was May 14th and mine is June 16th. So Mina and I joked that it would be quite funny if Willy was born on July 16th...not realizing that we had actually just correctly predicted his birthday!" Dr. Wonka told his friend. Sylvia laughed. "Yeah, usually it's almost a given when you make funny guesses like that that you're going to be wrong," she quipped. "And now our grandchild is due in July as well. What are the odds?" Dr. Wonka chuckled. Hearing her friend say that brought Sylvia's mind back to the situation that had led the two of them to have this whole discussion in the first place. "I hope Willy's all right. He looked pretty upset back there. Although if anyone can see make him see reason, Ronnie can. Perhaps it's not such a bad thing that she takes after her stubborn mother," she thought with a smile.

**WWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW**

Unbeknownst to Sylvia, her predictions about Ronnie getting Willy to see reason were spot on. The chocolatier hadn't had any particular destination in mind when he'd stormed off after the spat with his father. He just let his feet do what they wanted, and they ultimately led him to the buttercup bushes. "Who does he think he is?" the candy maker burst out as he sat down. Thinking he was alone, he was surprised when a response to his outburst emerged...in the form of a soft chuckle that he knew all too well. He turned to face his wife, not exactly pleased with the fact that she had just laughed at him.

Seeing the annoyed expression on her husband's face made Ronnie feel guilty. The last thing she had been intending to do was make him feel worse than he already was. "I'm sorry I laughed. It just sort of happened before I could stop it, and I was laughing at the situation, not at you," she apologized. "And what exactly is so funny about the situation?" Willy grumbled. "Well, let's just say that I thought it was supposed to be me having the mood swings," Ronnie said, just barely managing to suppress the urge to laugh again.

Willy's cheeks flushed pink. "I guess I got a little carried away back there," he said. "I wouldn't exactly call that a little," Ronnie thought. Knowing that saying that out loud probably wouldn't go over very well, she opted to do something that the chocolatier was an expert at: answer the statement without really answering it. "Willy, I realize that things got a little awkward when your father jumped to the wrong conclusion, and he definitely could have been a little less accusatory. But he didn't really do anything wrong, and he admitted that he shouldn't have been so hasty with his thoughts. So what was it that made you lose your temper and pounce on him?" she inquired. "Just whose side are you on?" Willy huffed defensively.

"It's not a matter of taking sides. I'm just trying to understand what happened. I mean, the way you were acting you'd have thought your father had just lit a fire under you or something. It's also pretty unusual for you to get so defensive over such a minor issue," Ronnie explained. "Minor? You call that a MINOR issue? He suggested that I would willingly disobey Sally's orders and potentially bring harm to you and/or our baby!" Willy practically shouted. "Willy, you need to calm down. Getting upset is hardly going to help resolve this," Ronnie said gently. As much as he wanted to take one of the buttercups off the tree right then and smash it, the confectioner knew his wife was right. There was no way he was going to be able to discuss the situation with Ronnie unless he got his act together.

"I'm sorry. It's just...well, sometimes I wish I hadn't allowed my father back in my life. He doesn't seem to think that I'm capable of making my own decisions or taking care of myself. I'm thirty-six years old, for whangdoodle's sake!" Willy said, sounding completely exasperated. "I doubt that's the case, mon cher," Ronnie responded. "How would you know?" Willy asked. "I don't know for sure, of course. But look at how he reacted when we announced the pregnancy. He came very close to crying and admitted that our announcement brought back 'very emotional' memories for him. Based on that, I get the feeling that although he's happy about being a grandfather, knowing that we're expecting has opened some sort of old wound," Ronnie mused.

Willy's gaze met his wife's, his eyes indicating that he was thinking about something. "You know, now that you mention it, I'll bet he's thinking about the whole situation with my mom," he said. Ronnie regarded her husband, her blue eyes warm and understanding. She knew that it wasn't easy for him to talk about his mother. In fact, that was one of the few topics that even she couldn't get him to open up about. Whenever she asked him about that particular subject, it was as though he had grown a shell and pulled himself into it. All of that, she knew, meant one thing: She was going to have to approach his statement in a very delicate manner if she didn't want him to close up again!

"Well, this is just wonderful! I need to be very careful about how I respond to what Willy said...but how exactly am I supposed to do that when I don't even know what he meant by 'the situation' with his mother? Not to mention the fact that all I know about his mom is that she died when..." Ronnie's frustrated thoughts trailed off suddenly. Mulling over the one thing she knew about Wilhelmina Wonka had trigged another memory in her brain. Right before Willy and Ronnie had gotten married, Dr. Wonka had spoken very briefly about his wife. And what he had mentioned was that Wilhelmina (since she had never known her, Ronnie didn't really feel right thinking of her as Mina) had passed away just a few months after Ronnie's father did. Since Ronnie's father had died while her mother was still pregnant (and both Sylvia and Wilhelmina had been pregnant at the same time), she knew that the dentist's comment could have meant only one thing. Her eyes going wide with shock, she put her arm around her husband's shoulder.

"Oh, Willy. Your mother died not that long after you were born, didn't she?" she said gently. "Yes," Willy said simply, opting not to elaborate. "Then no wonder your father's being acting the way he has! To have to go from pretty much the highest of highs to the lowest of lows in just a short period of time like that...I can't even begin to imagine what that must have been like for him," Ronnie remarked. "A short period of time is right. If only you knew how short," Willy thought. He didn't speak any of that aloud, though. Instead, he nodded and said only, "I should apologize to dad for how I acted earlier. Like you said, I got carried away and made some less-than-desirable choices." Then he chuckled and added, "I must say, I didn't realize that this pregnancy was going to bring out my defensive side so much!"

Ronnie laughed. "Let's just say that if how over-protective you're being of me now is any indication, our poor baby isn't going to able to do anything until he or she is practically grown!" she teased. "Are you saying that I'm already in the running for 'World's Most Neurotic Father'?" Willy inquired in mock irritation. "Well, if the top hat fits, wear it!" Ronnie couldn't resist saying. Willy grinned. "Well, if that's how you're going to be, then I guess there's only one thing to do," he chuckled mischievously. Without giving his wife a chance to so much as blink, he captured her lips with his in a passionate kiss.

An intense hunger of sorts filled Ronnie as her husband explored her mouth. The more he kissed her, the stronger her craving and desire for those kisses became. And that, she knew, had the potential to veer into dangerous territory rather quickly. But at that moment, she didn't really care. It was New Year's Eve and she was spending it with the man she loved, the father of her child. Sally's orders may have been at the forefront of her mind at the beginning of the evening, but now they were about the furthest thing from it. But before she could act on her overwhelming urges, she and Willy were jolted out of their moment when a tiny, happy voice suddenly cried out, "Mistah Wonky!"

* * *

><p><strong>An: **Okay, so Ronnie and Willy's "visitor" isn't really delt with in this chapter as implied at the end of the last. All I can say is that sometimes stories pretty much take on minds of their own! And as for who that "visitor" is...I don't want to give too much away, but I will say (in the hopes that no one gets too confused) that it's someone who has been mentioned (albiet fairly briefly) before in the story. The way she or he said Willy's name may also give some clues. :)

**Chapter 10 Preview:** We find out just who Willy and Ronnie's mysterious visitor is...and that visitor inadvertently helps mend fences, so to speak, between Willy and his father.


	10. Chapter 10: Family and Buttercups

**Disclaimer:** All I own is Baby Wonka!

**A/n: **Finally I'm getting another chapter up! The longer than usual time between chapter postings is due to a combination of being busy over the holidays and that pesky writer's block rearing it's ugly head a couple times. I apologize for the delay, and will try to get the next chapter out a bit quicker! Hopefully this was worth the wait and you enjoy it! And of course a big thank you goes out, as always, to my one reviewer for the last chapter. At this point I shouldn't even need to say to please keep those reviews coming! :)

* * *

><p>Willy and Ronnie had to stifle giggles as they broke their kiss. Only one of the factory's occupants called Willy "Mistah Wonky": Oaklie the Oompa Loompa chief's baby daughter, Meadow. As she was only a year old, she was just learning to talk...which meant that she often mis-pronounced names and other words in rather hilarious ways (and since her mother tongue was Loompish, this was especially true of English words). She especially liked practicing her budding communication skills on Willy, who was one of her favorite people (in fact, her first English words had been her version of the confectioner's name), and "talked" to him whenever she got the chance!<p>

A grin stretched across the chocolatier's face as he regarded the little girl who was perhaps his youngest fan. She wore a festive red party dress, white tights and shoes the same shade as the dress. Her hair had been put in pigtails, which were held in place by green ribbons, each of which featured a cocoa bean finding (since Willy knew that the Oompa Loompas used their favorite bean for just about everything they could think of, he had a sneaking suspicion that the findings in Meadow's hair didn't just look like cocoa beans, but were made from them as well). As if her outfit and hair weren't adorable enough, the toddler was also sporting a rather cute, gap-toothed smile (like a lot of one-year-olds, she didn't yet have very many teeth) and clutching a rag doll that had clearly been very well loved (it was missing one of its button eyes and its yarn hair had definitely seen better days!).

"Well, well, if it isn't little miss sneaky!" Willy playfully addressed the young Oompa Loompa (despite her tender age, Meadow was already an expert at wandering off whenever her parents turned their backs!). Meadow, who for some reason found it absolutely hilarious when Willy called her sneaky, giggled happily. This made Willy's grin get even bigger. "Have you been having fun exploring the Chocolate Room and looking at all the candy?" he asked (knowing full well that Meadow had more than likely been doing more than just looking!), his eyes twinkling. "Candy!" Meadow exclaimed, flashing her smile once again. "I'll take that as a yes!" Willy said, trying hard not to laugh. In response, Meadow giggled again and cried out delightedly, "Mey kissmas! Mey kissmas!"

This time Willy and Ronnie were unable to contain their laughter. Although they realized that Meadow's exclamation had been completely innocent and that she had simply been trying to say "Merry Christmas!", they couldn't help but find her term for the holiday rather funny (particularly in light of the fact that they had been in a major lip-lock when the toddler had snuck up on them!). "If only she knew just how accurate she is!" Ronnie hooted. "It's probably a good thing she doesn't, though. I certainly don't mind not having to explain ourselves to Oaklie and Ash!" Willy laughed (Ash, naturally, was Oaklie's wife and Meadow's mother). "Yeah, they'd probably rather not have the mental image of their boss and his wife playing tonsil hockey!" Ronnie agreed, still chuckling (thanking her lucky stars that Meadow was too young to understand what she had just said!).

Meadow, however, wasn't nearly as amused. Like most toddlers, there were a lot of things that she was either picky about or just plain didn't like. And one of them was being ignored. "No!" she cried suddenly. The startled confectionery couple turned to look at her. "Hey now , where did that smile go?" Willy asked, giving the toddler a grin of his own. To his surprise, however, that seemed to set Meadow off even more. "No no no! No no no!" she wailed. "All right, Miss Meadow, you've left me no choice," the candy maker replied, his tone light and playful. Then he reached over and began tickling the little girl. Within about two seconds flat, the young Oompa Loompa's frustration had turned into delight as she shrieked with laughter.

A tender look came over Ronnie's face as she watched the happy, giggling duo. "Willy certainly has a soft spot for that little one," she thought. Smiling, she looked down at her midsection and rested her hand on it. "And speaking of little ones, I know it's awfully clichéd to say, but the thought of your daddy holding you, playing with you, and taking care of you makes me feel all warm and fuzzy inside," she murmured. Then she chuckled. "Do I sound like a total sap or what?" she asked her belly. "Yes...and you have every right to," a very familiar soft, almost nostalgic female voice spoke up behind her.

Ronnie jumped about a foot into the air and clapped her hand over her heart. Needless to say, she hadn't been expecting a response to the question she'd just asked her unborn child! "Mom, don't do that to me! You scared me half to death!" she exclaimed as she turned to look at Sylvia. "Sorry. I didn't mean to scare you. I probably should have at least tapped you on the shoulder before I said anything, but obviously I wasn't thinking," the older woman apologized, looking rather sheepish. "It's all right, mom," Ronnie assured her. Then, realizing the humor of the situation, she added, "You had me wondering if my belly had learned how to talk for a second there!" Sylvia laughed. "Yeah, I guess suddenly hearing someone talk while you're looking at your stomach would be just a little unsettling!" she agreed.

"That's for sure! I mean, my body's been doing some odd stuff since I've been pregnant, but a talking abdomen is a bit much!" Ronnie joked. Then she decided to change the subject before she managed to make her mother feel even guiltier than she already did. "Were you getting worried and wondering where we were? I assume that's why you decided to come looking for us," she inquired. "Actually, no. I heard Willy and Wilbur arguing and then I saw Willy storm off with you following him. So I knew that you guys were just going somewhere so he could cool off. Wilbur feels really bad about the argument and wants to apologize to Willy, but we both felt that it was best to make sure Willy wasn't still upset before he did so. So I agreed to scout out the situation, so to speak," Sylvia explained.

"Willy feels the same way. I think the apology's going to have a wait for a bit, though. Wilbur may be ready, but his son is a bit preoccupied at the moment," Ronnie told her mother, grinning as she gestured to Willy and Meadow. The chocolatier had stopped tickling Meadow and was now holding her upside-down, the toddler's shrieks of delight still filling the air. "He's a natural!" marveled Sylvia. "You can say that again!" Ronnie concurred, her face taking on a dreamy expression. An instant later, the dreamy expression changed to one of panic as Willy lifted Meadow above his head and began "flying" her around while making airplane noises. "Oh my gosh!" Ronnie gasped, her feet starting to move almost before she realized what she was doing.

Hiding a smile, Sylvia reached out and grabbed her daughter's shoulder, thereby preventing her from rushing over to Willy. "Ronnie, relax," she gently chided her. Ronnie sighed. "I know they're just playing, but it looks so dangerous!" she insisted. "Believe me, I know how you feel. Your grandfather used to do that with you when you were that age and it frightened me quite a bit at first. But then I realized that it's really a lot tamer than it looks. And whoever said that kids are made of glass clearly hasn't met a toddler, much less raised one," Sylvia said reassuringly. Ronnie couldn't help but laugh a bit. "I suppose I did get a bit carried away there," she admitted. "That's quite all right, Ronnie. It just shows that your maternal instincts are already kicking in," Sylvia said knowingly.

Ronnie, however, barely heard her mother. "You know, it just occurred to me that last New Year's Eve I didn't even know Willy. And now we're married and having a baby together. It seems almost unreal," she remarked. "It's hard to believe how much can happen in just one short year, isn't it?" Sylvia quipped, smiling at her daughter. Ronnie nodded and smiled back. "Did I ever tell you what my New Year's resolution was last year?" she asked. "I don't recall that you did, now that you mention it," Sylvia replied. "It was to make a big change in my life. I was serious about keeping that resolution too. But if you had told me that I would be spending the next New Year's in Willy Wonka's chocolate factory, much less married to him and expecting a child with him, I'd have said you were nuts!" Ronnie explained.

"I know just what you mean! If those don't qualify as major changes, I'd like to know what does!" Sylvia chuckled. Ronnie couldn't help but sneak yet another glance at Willy and Meadow as she listened to her mother. By this point, the airplane game had stopped and the duo had switched to a much calmer, quieter activity. The confectioner was once again seated on the ground, telling a story to the sleepy-looking little girl who was now on his lap. A shiver ran down Ronnie's back as she watched them (and it wasn't because she was cold or nervous!). "Speaking of changes, never in a million years would I have expected that the mere sight of the man I love interacting with a toddler could get me so..." she started to say.

"Hot and bothered?" Sylvia suggested. "Well, yes," Ronnie admitted, her cheeks taking on a pinkish tinge. Once again, Sylvia found herself hiding a smile. "Pregnancy hormones will do that to you. Perfectly natural and nothing to be ashamed of," she said. "I know it's natural for hormones to go into overdrive during pregnancy. But did mine really have to pick now, while I'm on pelvic rest, to make me hornier than a rhinoceros?" Ronnie thought. Sylvia chuckled softly. "Hornier than a rhinoceros, huh?" she murmured, a bemused expression on her face. Ronnie clapped her hand to her mouth, her face crimson. "I said that out loud, didn't I?" she asked. Her mother nodded."Where's the nearest hole I can crawl into?" Ronnie muttered.

Sylvia's first impulse was to laugh about the (in her opinion, anyway!) rather comical situation. Knowing that Ronnie probably wouldn't appreciate that very much, however, she kept her giggles in check and decided to try a different approach. "It's all right, Ronnie. You didn't really tell me anything I didn't already know," she said. "You knew that I'm hornier than a rhinoceros?" Ronnie asked, sounding surprised and a bit unnerved. Now it was Sylvia's turn to blush. "Okay, that was a bad choice of words on my part. What I should have said is that I'm not really SURPRISED by what you said. After all, I know all too well what young married couples do...and what pregnancy hormones can do to a woman," she explained (opting not to add that the way Ronnie had been looking at Willy had also made her feelings quite clear!).

Ronnie looked thoughtful. "You know, I just remembered that this conversation was initially about New Year's resolutions. How that turned into a discussion about my bedroom habits I don't quite understand," she said. Sylvia couldn't help but smile. It was fairly obvious that Ronnie had said what she did so she could avoid acknowledging her mother's statement. Although Ronnie hadn't even been married to Willy for half a year, it was very clear to the elder of the two woman that she had already adopted some of his habits and quirks! Sylvia was just about to reply to what her daughter had said when a male voice- one that she knew all too well- spoke. "Well, would you look at that!" it marveled.

"I didn't realize that seeing me with my daughter was so awe-inspiring to you, Wilbur!" Sylvia joked, turning to look at the dentist. To her surprise, her friend responded by putting a finger to his lips. "Shhh! I wasn't referring to you," he practically whispered. Then he gestured toward Willy and Meadow. When Sylvia saw what had prompted Dr. Wonka to make his comment, she understood immediately why he had urged her to be quiet. Meadow was still on Willy's lap, but she was no longer listening to a story or sitting.

Instead, she was snuggled against the chocolatier's torso, her eyes closed and her head angeled downward. One of her arms was curled protectively around her doll while the other hung limply at her side and her breathing, although Sylvia could barely hear it, was slow, soft, and even. The little girl was fast asleep! As if that weren't a cute enough sight, the candy maker was looking down at the toddler, his expression one of pure tenderness and contentment. "Pardon the expression, but how sweet!" Sylvia murmured, feeling as though she might just melt from the precious scene in front of her. Given that fact, along with her knowledge of Ronnie's current emotional issues, she wasn't at all surprised by what she saw when she looked at her daughter.

The younger woman's eyes were moist with tears, she had her hand pressed over her heart as if it to keep it from leaping out of her chest and her face had a rather rosy tint to it. Sylvia could tell that she was just barely managing to keep herself together. "Are you okay, Ronnie?" she asked her daughter (making sure to keep her voice low so as not to wake Meadow). "Aside from being about to turn into a puddle of sappy goo, yes," Ronnie responded, the corners of her lips turning upward in a smile. Glancing at Willy yet again, she sighed happily and added, "If only he realized what he's doing to me!" Chuckling for what seemed like the millionth time that night, Sylvia looked at Dr. Wonka, silently indicating that it would be best for him not to ask questions, before turning her attention back to her only child.

"You know what I see right now when I look at you?" she asked. "The biggest sap in the universe?" Ronnie suggested. Sylvia smiled and her blue eyes twinkled. "No. I see a young woman who is deeply in love," she answered. Then the twinkle in her eyes was replaced by a look of wistfulness. "I hope you realize how lucky you are, Ronnie," she said softly. Ronnie put her arm around her mother's shoulders. "I do mom, believe me, I do. I also realize that you weren't as lucky, and I'm sorry that I haven't been more respectful of that tonight," she told her. "You haven't been being disrespectful, Ronnie. If anything, it's ME who has the problem, not you. To be perfectly honest, seeing you and Willy so happy about getting to experience the wonder and joy of embarking on the path to parenthood together makes me feel a bit jealous at times," Sylvia confessed.

"Oh, mom! I had a hunch that this was harder on you than you were letting on," Ronnie said. "I suppose I should have told you earlier, but I didn't want to spoil things for you or for Willy," Sylvia explained. "Well, no matter what you say, I should have been more respectful of your feelings. I've just been so happy and excited that I haven't taken the time to consider the emotions you might be experiencing," Ronnie insisted. Sylvia smiled once again. "Don't you worry your head about me. I'm not having THAT hard of a time. This is something I need to deal with, and I'll be fine," she assured her daughter. "Of course you will," Dr. Wonka put in, moving over to stand beside her.

Sylvia felt a twinge of guilt as she realized that she and Ronnie had been basically ignoring the dentist. "Wilbur, I apologize. We honestly didn't mean to ignore you," she said. "That's quite all right. Considering the fact that I walked in while you two were in the middle of a conversation, it wouldn't have been very proper of me to expect you not to finish it," Dr. Wonka replied with a wry grin. Sylvia grinned back and shook her head. "That sounds like something Willy might say, albeit probably in a slightly more witty manner. Really, sometimes they're more alike than they realize!" she thought. "I must say..." she started to say. Before she could finish her sentence, however, she was stopped short by a sudden rustling noise.

Now, Sylvia Wells was not normally a panicky person. In fact, after having lived on her own for years, not to mention having raised a child on her own, there weren't many things that could shock or frighten her. But for whatever reason, that rustling was giving her the creeps. Part of that, she figured, was that the noise didn't sound quite loud enough for a person to be making. Images of some of Willy's odder creations (such as the rather mischievous Square Candies that Look Round, which she had been unfortunate enough to have some run-ins with!) flashed through her mind as she tried to figure out what could possibly be making that sound. She knew she was probably being ridiculous, but she couldn't help herself. She turned to her friend.

"Wilbur, you're going to think I'm crazy, but I think I just heard..." she began. Dr. Wonka held up his hand and motioned for her to stop. "I know. I heard it, too," he said. "Do you think we should tell Willy? I don't want to wake Meadow, but..." for the third time, Sylvia's sentence was cut short. This time, ironically, it was by the subject of which she had been speaking. Meadow, it turned out, had already been awoken by the noise...and her vantage point meant that the little girl, unlike Sylvia and Dr. Wonka, had been able to watch as the culprits emerged from amongst the buttercup bushes. "Mama! Papa!" she cried happily.

Feeling rather sheepish, Sylvia and Dr. Wonka watched as Oaklie and Ash walked over to their daughter. "There you are, you little rascal! We've been looking everywhere for you!" Oaklie playfully admonished the toddler. "And I see you found Mr. Wonka," Ash added. Meadow giggled and pointed at the chocolatier. "Mistah Wonky!" she exclaimed. Then she yawned and rubbed her eyes. Ash smiled. "I think someone's tired," she told her husband. "Well, she WAS napping just before you guys got here," Willy put in. "It's past her bedtime, so I'm not surprised," Oaklie said. As if to prove everyone's point, Meadow yawned and rubbed her eyes a second time. "Okay, little missy. Time for beddy-bye," Oaklie said as he lifted his daughter off of his boss's lap. Meadow responded by bursting into tears. "No!" she cried, reaching her arms out towards the confectioner. Within moments, however, she had nestled her head into her father's shoulder and fallen asleep once again.

**WWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW**

To say that Willy, Ronnie and their parents weren't filled with emotion and contemplation as Oaklie and his family left would be an understatement. All four of them had been quite affected by Willy's interaction with Meadow. Perhaps the most deeply affected, however, was Dr. Wonka. "Willy, seeing you with that little girl was incredible. It's obvious that she adores you, and going by the way you were acting while she was asleep on your lap, I think it's pretty safe to say the feeling is mutual," he said. Willy nodded. "I've always had a soft spot for her, but today she just about turned me into a puddle of melted chocolate," he admitted.

"I would imagine that the fact that we've got our own little gumdrop on the way might have something to do with that," Ronnie spoke up, smiling lovingly at her husband. "Gumdrop? That's a cute nickname for the baby, especially at this stage," Sylvia chimed in. "Willy came up with it, actually. When we had our scare and Sally was checking to make sure everything was all right, he commented that the baby looked a bit like a gumdrop on the ultrasound. I agreed, and the rest is pretty much history," Ronnie explained. "Somehow I had a feeling that Willy was behind that candy-inspired nickname," Sylvia laughed. "What can I say? I tend to think in candy-type terms," Willy replied. Ronnie leaned over and planted a tender kiss on his lips. "I wouldn't expect anything less from you, mon bonbon homme," she said.

Dr. Wonka couldn't help but smile as he watched his son and daughter-in-law. As hard as it was for him at times to see them together (due to the fact that they reminded him so much of himself and his beloved Mina), even he had to admit that they were happy as clams, and that having a baby together was bringing out the best in both of them. Knowing what he had to do, the dentist cleared his throat. "Willy, I was wrong," he said, looking the younger man directly in the eye. "Wrong about what?" Willy asked, a confused expression on his face. "I was wrong to suggest, however mildly, that work is more important to you than your growing family. All anyone has to do is look at you and Ronnie to know that you think the world of each other," Dr. Wonka explained.

"Well for what it's worth, it wasn't right of me to get on your case for simply jumping to the wrong conclusion about what Ronnie and I had been doing prior to coming to the party, either," Willy admitted. "That may be so, but I understand why you acted the way you did. Not only that, but in hindsight, I think the reason I reacted so strongly was because you reminded me so much of myself right then," Dr. Wonka said. Needless to say, Willy was quite taken aback by hearing those words emerge from his father's mouth! "I reminded you of yourself? What do you mean?" he asked. "I mean that I was every bit as protective of your mother when she was pregnant with you as you are of Ronnie now. In fact, at times I was probably a bit OVERprotective," Dr. Wonka told his son.

It was all the chocolatier could do not to burst out laughing. "If only he knew that Ronnie told me pretty much the exact same thing about myself less than an hour ago!" he thought. Instead of saying that to his father, however, he decided to address a different part of what the elder man had said. "I think I understand why you acted the way you did, too. It's because seeing Ronnie and I together and expecting a baby brings back memories of mom, isn't it?" he inquired. Dr. Wonka nodded. "Don't get me wrong, I'm very happy for the two of you, and I'm excited about being a grandfather. But at the same time, I look at you and Ronnie and I find myself taken back in time 36 years. And even though that's also the amount of time that's gone by since your mother's passing, it's hard," he confessed.

Instead of Willy replying, it was Sylvia who spoke next. "Wilbur, you don't need to apologize for the fact that you still miss Mina. It doesn't matter how many years it's been. You're never going to stop loving or missing her, just as I will never stop loving and missing Henry. No matter what happens, they will always be in our hearts," she said, putting her hand on his shoulder and giving it a reassuring squeeze. Dr. Wonka glanced up at her, silently letting her know that he understood the full meaning of what she had said. "I just wish it didn't have to hurt so much sometimes," he said softly. "I know," Sylvia murmured. Then, remembering where they were and who they were with, she gave the dentist's shoulder another quick squeeze and moved so that she wasn't practically leaning against him.

"You know, sometimes it's hard for me to believing that I'm Willy Wonka's mother-in-law, not to mention the grandmother-to-be of his child," she said, figuring it would probably be a good idea to change the subject. "I know what you mean. Believe me, I never imagined that I would end up married, let alone a father," the chocolatier chuckled. Ronnie chuckled, too. "I think the Golden Ticket contest made that pretty clear," she couldn't resist teasing her husband. "That whole thing IS pretty ironic if you think about it. I mean, I send out the tickets, find an heir, and now, after all of that, I'm having my own child. What are the odds?" Willy mused, smiling as he placed his hand on his wife's belly. The rather lovey-dovey moment between the couple, however, ended moments later when a loud gasp emerged from behind them. Willy knew that gasp very well, and when he turned around, his suspicions were confirmed. Charlie was standing there, his eyes filled with tears and his mouth hanging open in pure and utter shock.

* * *

><p><strong>An: **Yes, ANOTHER cliffhanger! What can I say? My story seems to be fond of those lately! ;)

**Chapter 11 Preview:** Charlie and Willy's friendship hits its biggest hurdle yet and we learn about some of the challenges the chocolatier faced as a preteen.


	11. Chapter 11: Confessions of a Chocolatier

**Disclaimer: **You know the drill. Baby Wonka belongs to me, absolutly nothing else does!

**A/n: **Well, here's the next chapter. There's a fair amount of fluff between Willy and Ronnie here, which I felt was quite warranted given the fact that the next chapter will be another rather "heavy" one. Other than that I don't really have much to say except that, as I always say, a big thank you goes out to my one reviewer for the last chapter and please keep those reviews coming!

* * *

><p>Willy knew that his apprentice's shocked expression meant only one thing...the boy had heard what he'd said about the Golden Ticket contest. "Charlie, I didn't..." he began. "Didn't what? Expect me to hear that back-stabbing remark?" the youngest Bucket burst out, his face flushed red with anger. "Look, I didn't mean..." Willy tried again. Charlie, however, had no intentions of letting him finish. "And here I thought you actually WANTED me to be your heir! But instead it turns out I was just a convenient way for you to avoid having to go to the trouble of having a child! And now that you're actually having one, you have no use for me anymore!" he exploded. Then, before Willy could say anything, he abruptly turned and stomped off.<p>

"Well, I don't think that could have possibly gone any worse," the candy maker groaned, putting his head in his hands. "It's not your fault, Willy. There's no way you could have known that Charlie was going to pop in on us, let alone right when you and Ronnie were talking about the Golden Ticket contest," Sylvia assured him. Not surprisingly, Willy opted not to respond directly. "I suppose we'd better go back to the party and explain the situation to the Buckets, something I doubt Charlie's going to do based on the way he's been lately," he muttered (among the many other changes in his apprentice was an extreme stubbornness when it came to talking about his feelings.). "Good idea. I have a sneaking suspicion that they're probably wondering where we are anyway, which is likely why Charlie came over here," Ronnie agreed.

Big as the Chocolate Room was, it only took the group a few minutes to reach the party area. The first thing they noticed was that both Charlie and James were absent from the gathering. The second thing was the looks of extreme bewilderment and concern on Nora's and the grandparents' faces. Not surprisingly, it was Nora who noticed the quartet first. "I take it you've seen Charlie," Ronnie said. "Yes. He just came running back here a minute or so ago. He was clearly upset and, although he was trying to hide it, crying quite hard. We asked him what was wrong but he just shook his head, told us he was going to the house, and left. James is there now trying to talk to him," Nora answered, giving an affirmative nod. "There was a mis-understanding between he and Willy. We happened to be talking about the Golden Ticket contest and he got the wrong idea," Ronnie explained.

"I mentioned that it's kind of ironic that now, AFTER sending out the Golden Tickets and successfully finding an heir, I'm getting one the old fashioned-way. Naturally I didn't mean that I see Ronnie's and my baby as a replacement for Charlie, but he didn't see it that way," Willy jumped in. Nora shook her head, sadness and sympathy for the chocolatier now among the emotions showing on her face. "I really apologize for all of this, Willy, and please don't blame yourself for what happened. Charlie's been rather difficult at home lately, too. He's changing, I guess, which shouldn't be too surprising since his 11th birthday is just around the corner. Still..." unsure of how to finish her thought, she let it hang, so to speak. "He's growing up, which is itself often a bit difficult for a parent to see, and it's hard to look at your baby and suddenly see, in a lot of ways, a complete stranger," Sylvia finished for her. Nora didn't say anything, but simply nodded as she wiped her eyes with her hand.

If there was one thing Willy couldn't stand, it was making people cry. Despite Nora's assertions to the contrary, he couldn't help but think that this whole mess was his fault. If only he hadn't opened his big mouth about the Golden Ticket business, Charlie wouldn't have gotten upset and Nora wouldn't have gotten teary-eyed. "What have I done?" he thought. Needless to say, whatever excitement he may have felt about the holiday party earlier was now gone. And although the Chocolate Room was usually a soothing place for him, he found that all he wanted right then was to get out of the place. At the same time, however, he felt bad about leaving the party early (especially since he and Ronnie had arrived late).

Luckily, his wife seemed to sense how he was feeling. "I know it's still relatively early, but if you guys don't mind, I think Willy and I will retire for the night now. It's been a long day, and as you know, being in the first trimester of pregnancy has been making me tire more easily anyway," she told the group. "I understand completely, Ronnie. You two have a good sleep and we'll see you in the morning," Nora replied, speaking for her family. "And I'll try to call you at some point tomorrow," Sylvia put in (mother and daughter usually talked on the phone several times a week, especially when the bakery was closed and they couldn't see each other at work). Ronnie nodded, then put her arm around her husband's shoulder and led the way to the glass elevator.

**WWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW**

"Well, I certainly did a fine job of messing things up back there," Willy sighed as the confectionery couple changed into their pajamas following the short (and luckily uneventful) ride back to their apartment. Ronnie frowned. The last time she had see her husband this upset had been on that fateful day when her pregnancy had nearly ended in miscarriage (although he had tried to be strong for her sake, she knew full well that he had been just as scared and emotional as she had). "And I blamed myself for that, just as Willy's blaming himself for what happened with Charlie," she thought as the pair headed into the living room to partake in their favorite evening ritual. "Believe me, I know how easy it is to blame yourself when things go wrong. But the incident with Charlie is no more your fault than almost losing our little gumdrop was mine," she told the chocolatier. Willy shook his head and his expression remained every bit as gloomy as it had been when they'd first entered the glass elevator.

"Comparing those two things is like comparing hornswagglers to Oompa Loompas! As Sally told us, there was probably nothing you could have done to prevent our scare from happening. But I certainly could have prevented the mess with Charlie from happening!" he insisted. "I really don't think there was, Willy. Like mom said, there's no way you could have possibly known that Charlie was going to hear what you were saying. You may be one of the cleverest men I know, but even you can't be expected to read people's minds," Ronnie said soothingly. "Maybe so, but I still wish I wouldn't have said that. I mean, things between Charlie and me were bad enough as it was. Now I'll probably be lucky if he speaks to me again before the month is out," the chocolatier lamented.

"Willy, that's an exaggeration and you know it," Ronnie chided him. Willy looked at her, frustration evident on his face. "That's not the point! You know Charlie's had a beef with me ever since our big announcement. Now I've successfully given him another reason to hate me!" he protested. "I know it probably seems that way right now, but remember what Nora said. Charlie's been giving her and James problems, too. I could be completely wrong of course, but I think that Charlie's anger, jealousy, and whatever else towards you is part of a much bigger issue," Ronnie said. "What do you mean by that?" the candy maker asked. Ronnie sighed in exasperation and just barely managed to refrain from rolling her eyes. She loved her husband, but sometimes his ignorance drove her up the wall! "Oh, come on! Don't you remember what it was like to be his age?" she inquired.

The confectioner turned and looked at her, his expression one she couldn't quite read (which was quite unusual since she was one of the few people that normally had no difficultly understanding him!). "As a matter of fact, I do. It wasn't the most pleasant stage of my life, that's for sure. It was right after my father had abandoned me and I was living at the local orphanage. The lady who ran it was nice enough, but the other kids...well, let's just say that I was the target of most of the teasing and taunting that went on there," he explained. Ronnie shook her head in disbelief. This was the first time Willy had ever opened up to her about his years in the orphanage, and knowing that the teasing he had endured for most of their childhood had followed him there made her heart ache.

"Oh, Willy! I had no idea," she said, wrapping her arm around her husband's shoulders and giving them a loving squeeze. The chocolatier gave her a grateful smile before continuing to speak. "You could say that teasing me was the hobby of choice there, especially among the other boys. That was bad enough, but then my body started to change. Since my father, as you probably guess, had never talked to me about that stuff, I was pretty clueless. As a result, I found a lot of those changes rather scary and, unfortunately, my fellow orphans could sense that," he told his wife.

For the second time in less than five minutes, Ronnie felt a tugging in her heart. While she'd gone through her share of challenges during puberty, at least she'd had her mother to talk to. When she had been about a year younger than Willy was at the time he entered the orphanage (and therefore also a year younger than Charlie was currently), Sylvia had given her "the talk". She had presented the changes Ronnie had begun to and would eventually go through as perfectly normal and nothing to be ashamed about. But most importantly, she had always encouraged her daughter to come to her if she had any questions or problems. Ronnie had grown up knowing that she could talk to her mother about anything, and at no time had this been more of a comfort to her than during her journey to womanhood. They'd had some of their best heart-to-hearts during those years, not to mention all the nights (and days) that Sylvia had simply held her sobbing, overwhelmed daughter in her loving embrace.

Ronnie had always appreciated all that her mom had done for her, but only now did she fully understand just what a gift that relationship was. Mentally replaying what Willy had said to her just a few minutes before, she was ashamed to realize that she had pretty much taken her mother's caring, understanding ways- and even her very presence- for granted. "Are you all right, buttercup?" Willy's voice suddenly broke into her thoughts. Ronnie felt her cheeks flush. She was supposed to be comforting him, not giving him reason to ask if SHE was okay!

"I'm fine. I was just thinking about something is all," she answered the candy maker, feeling rather embarrassed. Then, since she didn't particularly feel like discussing the matter any further, she decided to change the subject. "How did the girls at the orphanage treat you? You mentioned that the other boys teased you a lot, but you never..." she started to say. A glance at her husband, however, stopped her in mid-sentence. His eyes had a soft, faraway look to them and he was wearing a smile that seemed to be both happy and sad at the same time. Ronnie couldn't help but smile herself as she realized that more than likely it was now he that was doing some thinking...

_Willy Wonka had recently turned 11 years old, and to say his life was complicated was an understatement. Just a few short months ago, he had run away from home, only to return after a change of heart to find his father and their house gone. Stung by his father's betrayal, he had taken off yet again, this time eventually finding himself in one of the few shops that was still open (it had been dusk by the time he had returned to the spot where his house had once stood), a small candy store. The shopkeeper, surprised to see a kid his age out alone at such an hour, had immediately inquired about the whereabouts of his parents. Knowing that the shopkeeper probably wouldn't believe that his house had literally vanished into thin air, Willy had said only that his mother was dead and that he didn't know where his father was. Shortly thereafter, the young boy had been taken to the city orphanage._

_In some ways, life at the orphanage (which doubled as a school for the children who lived there) was a positive thing for Willy. For starters, Mrs. Jergins, the kindly old lady who ran the place, didn't disapprove of eating candy like Dr. Wonka did. In fact, she loved the stuff and often shared it with her young charges. This meant that Willy no longer had to hide when he wanted to eat something sweet. The orphanage also happened to be on the opposite end of the city from where Willy had lived with his father, enabling the preteen to truly have a fresh start. And perhaps best of all, that horrible monstrosity that his father called headgear, along with his braces, had finally been removed from his face (he'd been taken for a dental check-up shortly after being placed in the orphanage, and the dentist had seen no reason the headgear and braces needed to remain)!_

_Unfortunately, however, the negative aspects of Willy's new life out weighed those few positives. While Mrs. Jergins was very kind, the same could definitely not be said of the other orphans who called the place home. Well, that wasn't entirely true. The girls (the orphanage was coed) were okay. But the boys were a different story. They were even worse than Terrance, the bully who had been in Willy's class at the school he had attended prior to his life changing so abruptly. For whatever reason, they had made it their mission to make their newest classmate's life miserable. They taunted him, tripped him in the halls (when Mrs. Jergins wasn't watching, obviously!), short-sheeted his bed, replaced the shampoo with honey just before his morning shower, hid the notebooks he used for writing down ideas for new candies (as well as ways to improve existing ones), and even put a snake in his sock drawer._

_Just when Willy was thinking that things couldn't possibly get any worse, something happened that made all the taunting and pranking the other boys had done to him seem trivial. Actually, it was a lot of "somethings". The young boy's body was changing, and he wasn't quite sure what to make of it. Some of the changes were more annoying than anything, such as the development of hair on his underarms. But others, like the fact that things in his groin area were enlarging, were a bit more alarming. His father had never told him that anything like this would happen to him, and since he was only in the fifth grade, there had been only a brief, very basic discussion on the topic in health class. As a result, Willy was pretty much on his own._

_The first thing he needed to do, he decided, was to read up on what was happening to him. Luckily, Mrs. Jergins took him and the other orphans to the public library once a week. So during one of those trips, he slipped away from the others (Mrs. Jergins didn't mind if he and the other kids went off on their own at the library as long as they agreed to watch the clock and meet back up with her at a certain time) and found the books he needed (as luck would have it, the library had a very good selection of books on the topic of puberty!). Then, making sure none of his fellow orphans was looking, he found Mrs. Jergins, got the orphanage's library card from her (although they did a group check-out at the end of their time at the library, Mrs. Jergins allowed her charges to "opt out", so to speak, and check out their books separately if they so chose.), and checked them out._

_For the next few days, Willy spent the majority of his free time with his nose buried in his library books, learning everything he could about the changes his body was going through. At first things went great. He learned a lot from the books and didn't feel quite as scared anymore. But then some of the other boys discovered one of the books (after he had carelessly forgotten to hide it from them!). The ringleader, a boy named Tom, wasted no time in taunting Willy in a new way. "Don't tell me you actually had to look in a book to figure out what's happening to you!" he sneered. _

"_Well, I..." Willy tried to say. But Tom wasn't interested in his words. "Don't think I haven't noticed how you've been acting the last several days. You're scared, aren't you?" the bully taunted. This time Willy didn't say anything. Unfortunately, Tom took that as a yes. "I knew it!" he exclaimed. Then he turned to his friends. "Can you believe it? Willy's scared of his own body! What a baby!" he jeered. Willy didn't care to hear any more. He turned and left the room, Tom's chant of, "Baby, baby, baby!" ringing in his ears._

_After retreating a safe distance down the hall, the orphanage's newest resident stopped and pondered what to do next. Frankly all he wanted was to be alone, but with Tom and his buddies in the boys' dorm, that was going to be a bit tricky. He was trying to figure out where to go when he heard what sounded like someone whistling. Normally Willy didn't think whistling was anything special. It was a nice sound, but it wasn't something he paid a lot of attention to. This particular whistle, however, seemed different than any he'd ever heard. It sounded sweet and even soothing. He simply had to track down the source! _

_Carefully tip-toeing along the hall (he didn't want to do anything to make that beautiful whistle stop!), he soon found himself standing in front of the door the girls' dorm. It hadn't been completely closed, leaving a sizable crack between it and the door frame. Not stopping to consider what he was doing, Willy crept as close to the door as he could without making it open any further. Then he peeked through the crack. Right away he saw where that the whistle was coming from Paula, who was 14 and one of the oldest kids in the orphanage. She was standing by her bed, smiling and looking, Willy thought, quite pretty. He'd never really noticed her that much before (mostly because the girls and the boys didn't hang out together very often), but now, all of a sudden, just looking at her was causing him to get a funny feeling in his stomach. _

_Just when Willy was thinking he couldn't possibly feel any weirder, Paula suddenly took off her shirt, followed by her bra (since she was 14, she was pretty well developed). The sight of her bare chest made the weird sensations Willy was experiencing intensify. A shiver ran down his spine, followed by his whole body flushing. Then Paula stepped out of her pants and panties and Willy thought he might just go crazy. As the boy's body continued to react to this most unexpected sight, his classmate slipped into her bathrobe (it had been sitting on her bed the whole time, but Willy had been too busy watching her to notice). Then, almost before Willy's frazzled mind could process what was happening, she walked over to the door and opened it. _

_Almost instinctively, he turned his back to her so that she (he hoped, anyway!) wouldn't see the bulge that was straining in his pants. Unfortunately, Paula didn't need to see that to know what was going on. "You were watching me get undressed for my shower, weren't you?" she asked accusingly. All Willy could do was nod. "You creep! And you were getting pleasure from it too, weren't you? I'll bet that's why you turned away from me so suddenly!" she exclaimed disgustedly. Without giving Willy a chance to answer, she stalked off toward the bathroom. "Stupid boys!" Willy heard her mutter just before she disappeared into the small room. A lump formed in his throat as he headed back to the boys' dorm, hoping fervently that Tom and his gang had cleared out. Seeing that they had, the emotionally overwrought preteen flung himself onto his bed, buried his face in his pillow, and let the tears come..._

"Willy, what's the matter?" Ronnie suddenly asked. Hearing his wife's concerned voice was enough to bring Willy out of his flashback. His face felt moist, and he realized at once that it wasn't just in his memory that he'd been crying. "I was having a flashback," Willy admitted. "About when you were in the orphanage?" Ronnie asked, reaching out and tenderly brushing a stray lock of hair away from her husband's face. "Yes, I..." Willy began. Then, as if like a bolt of lightening, a realization struck him. "You don't suppose Charlie is being teased about his changing body like I was, do you?" he asked Ronnie. Ronnie frowned. "It wouldn't surprise me, unfortunately, knowing how kids can be," she replied. "And now on top of that he thinks I've betrayed him by replacing him. No wonder he's been so upset," the candy maker murmured.

"You know, I have a feeling this has been brewing for longer than we've realized," Ronnie said, a rather interesting possibility suddenly occurring to her. "What are you talking about?" Willy inquired, somewhat puzzled by his wife's words. "I know Charlie seemed happy for us and was very supportive when we got married. I have a hunch, though, that deep down he was starting to worry even then that his position as your heir might be threatened. He's not stupid, and I'm sure he realized that there was a very real possibility that you and I were going to take the next step, so to speak, and have children together," Ronnie explained. "If that is indeed the case, then, as far as he's concerned, we've just made his worst nightmare come true," Willy sighed.

Not knowing quite what to say, Ronnie scooted closer to the chocolatier and gently pulled him into a loving embrace. "The worst part of all this is that Charlie was partially right. I DID send out the Golden Tickets mainly because I, as he put it, didn't want to go to the trouble of having a child. I knew that doing that would mean getting married, and I didn't exactly see myself as husband material, or father material either for that matter. To be completely honest, both of those prospects scared me," Willy confessed. "I think you've just found the key to resolving this issue with Charlie," Ronnie said. "You mean I should tell him what I just told you?" Willy asked. Ronnie nodded. "Yes. I think being completely honest with him about the Golden Ticket contest, along with the fears you had about marriage and procreation, will go a long way in getting your relationship with him back on the right track," she affirmed.

"Now if I can just get him to listen to me for more than two seconds," Willy muttered, mostly to himself. "Trust me, you'll find a way. You are one of the smartest, most resourceful people I've met, and I've yet to see you encounter a problem you can't solve," Ronnie assured him. "Well, I don't know about THAT," the confectioner replied, his cheeks taking on a decidedly reddish tone. "You know what else you're good at?" Ronnie asked suddenly, a rather playful tone to her voice. Willy could think of several things he was good at...but somehow he had a feeling that his wife wasn't referring to any of them.

So, his curiosity growing more and more by the second, he shook his head. "You're good at bringing out my defiant side," Ronnie told her husband. Now the candy maker was more curious than ever. "Your defiant side?" he repeated. "Yes. I didn't think it was possible to love you any more than I already do, but when I saw you with Meadow tonight, I found that it is. Willy, you just about turned me into a puddle of melted chocolate and frankly, if our parents hadn't been present after Oaklie and Ash left with Meadow, I'm not sure I would have stuck to Sally's orders," Ronnie admitted.

Willy smiled tenderly at his wife. One of the things he liked best about her was that she rarely followed the crowd and that she wasn't afraid to go against the rules every now and again. "For what it's worth, I rather like your 'defiant side'. I admire women who are willing to take risks", he said lovingly. "That's very flattering, but my defiance tonight could have resulted in consequences for more than just myself," Ronnie insisted. The chocolatier put his arm around her and cuddled her close, resting his other hand on her midsection. "Sometimes I still can't quite believe that we've actually created something so amazing and precious as that tiny life that's now growing inside you," he practically whispered. Instead of speaking, Ronnie leaned over and planted a series of light, feathery kisses on her husband's lips (knowing what her passion had nearly done to her earlier that night, she knew it would probably be unwise to go any further!).

Neither she nor Willy said anything for the next several minutes. They just sat cuddled together, filled with love for each other as well as for that most miraculous creation that Ronnie carried within. All too soon, however, the silence was broken...by the couple letting out simultaneous yawns! Willy laughed. "I guess we both must be tired," he quipped. Ronnie nodded. She could feel her eyelids growing heavy and knew that her body was telling her it was bedtime. Yet despite the fact that she felt as though she could fall asleep at any moment, she found that she had no desire to leave the living room and the cozy, inviting fire (by this point it was pretty much just embers, but Ronnie found that somehow even cozier than when the fire was blazing at full flame).

"Oh, Willy, I know we should go to bed, especially since I'm practically falling asleep as it is. But it's so peaceful here in front of the fire and I don't want to leave," she said. An almost mischievous look came into the candy maker's eyes. "Then I see no reason for us to do so," he said. Then, before Ronnie even had a chance to so much as begin to figure out what her husband meant, he tightened his hold on her slightly and shifted his weight until they were both lying on the couch. With his wife now spooned up against him, the candy maker reached up, pulled the afghan off the back of the couch, and spread it across them both. "Bon nuit, ma cherie," he whispered, gently kissing his already half-asleep beloved. The soft, satiny feel of her lips against his was the last thing he remembered before he, too, was overtaken by sleep.

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 12 Preview: <strong>Willy talks to Charlie (a much task that proves to be much easier said than done!) and we find out the full extent of the boy's anxieties.


	12. Chapter 12: Mending Fences

**Disclaimer: **Baby Wonka is mine...you know the rest!

**A/n: **This chapter is another slightly shorter one, but like a lot of the other shorter ones, I feel that the "heaviness" of it more than makes up for it. It's not QUITE as "heavy" as some of the other emotional chapters, but as I warned you last chapter, it isn't exactly all warm and fuzzy, either! And is usually the case with my more "loaded" chapters, this one will be followed by a much lighter, more "fun" chapter. A big thank you to my one reviewer as always, and please keep those writer's chocolates (as I like to call them!) coming!

* * *

><p>The morning after Willy's and Ronnie's sleep on the living room couch was, it seemed to them, determined to be as different as possible from the quiet, tranquil evening they'd shared not even ten hours earlier. It began with Ronnie being awakened by an all-too familiar queasy feeling and having to make a mad dash for the bathroom (now that she was fast approaching the three month mark in her pregnancy, her morning sickness was mostly a thing of the past. Every now and then, however, it decided to rear it's ugly head again). The commotion of that, in turn, woke Willy. "That darn morning sickness AGAIN?" he half asked, half said sympathetically as his wife returned to the living room.<p>

"That darn morning sickness is right! I thought that it was finally behind me and that it would be okay to freely indulge over the holidays. What a mistake!" Ronnie groaned. "It probably doesn't exactly help matters that you live in a chocolate factory, either," Willy commiserated. Despite the situation and the fact that she still felt a bit queasy, Ronnie laughed. "Being surrounded by chocolate DOES make it a bit difficult to keep one's enormous craving for the stuff in check," she agreed. Willy smiled as he recalled how, just a few days earlier (when they'd still be on their vacation on Dessert Island), he had caught her happily licking a sizable portion of chocolate never-melting ice cream out of a candy ball (the same type as the large melted chocolate-filled ones that were one of the Chocolate Room's many treats).

He didn't mention any of that to Ronnie, though (she wasn't aware that he had seen her gorging herself with the ice cream, and although he wasn't sure why, he preferred to keep it that way). Instead he tried to lighten the mood even more. "The taste-tester Oompa Loompas keep insisting, tongue-in-cheek of course, that if your craving keeps up, they won't have a job for too much longer!" he said playfully. Ronnie chuckled. It was definitely no secret that she had taken to going into the Inventing Room and sneaking "just a little taste" of whatever candy Willy happened to be working on at the moment (naturally she only tried the ones that she knew had already passed the initial "functionality" tests and had been proven not to have any weird effects!).

As you might imagine, "just a little taste," inevitably turned into two, and then three, and so on. So, needless to say, Ronnie wasn't exactly shocked to find out that her craving had become the main topic of conversation for the Oompa Loompas who worked in the Inventing Room. "It's probably a wonder that you've even be able to get any of your latest candies to the stores, what with the way I've been gobbling them up left and right!" she joked. "Speaking of eating, we should probably get some breakfast," Willy pointed out. "Yeah. I don't think I want to go to the Buckets, though. I don't feel nauseous anymore, but just the same it would probably be wise for me to take it easy in regards to eating right now," Ronnie said. Her husband smiled and pulled out his WonkaPhone. "I was hoping you'd say that. I wasn't particularly looking forward to eating breakfast with the Buckets, given Charlie's mood and feelings towards me right now," he said as he dialed the Buckets' number.

**WWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW**

Approximately half an hour later, after dressing, eating a quick breakfast of oatmeal and orange juice, and making sure they looked halfway decent (sleeping meshed up against each other on the couch all night hadn't exactly done their hair any favors!), Willy and Ronnie were sitting at the Buckets' kitchen table. The confectioner knew that, despite his pessimism about it, there was no sense in delaying the inevitable talk he was going to have to have with Charlie. He and Ronnie had agreed that the first step should be for him to talk with James and Nora. "They know their son better than anybody, obviously, so if anyone can give you advice on how best to proceed with this delicate task, it would be them," Ronnie had pointed out. Now she and Willy were seated across the table from the youngest of the three couples that called the Chocolate Room home, and their expressions told the latter that things with Charlie were going to be even more difficult than he had initially thought.

Nora's brow was furrowed and her face was etched with worry and sadness. James also looked worried, but unlike his wife he seemed more upset than sad. And neither Bucket appeared to have gotten much sleep. "Not good signs at all," Willy thought. "Long night?" Ronnie suddenly inquired of Charlie's parents as though she had read her husband's thoughts. At any other time, Nora probably would have made some funny remark about how she would undoubtedly be asking Ronnie the exact same question in just a few months' time. That morning, however, joking around was the last thing on her mind. "You can say that again," she sighed. "I spent half of it trying to get Charlie to calm down and talk to me, and most of the other half discussing the situation with Nora," James added.

"In other words, you didn't have much success with Charlie," Willy said, trying not to let the despair he was feeling creep into his voice. "No I didn't. Forgive the analogy, but you'd have thought I was a dentist trying to pull his tooth without anesthesia rather than his father trying to talk to him. He just did not want to open up to me," James told him. Almost with out realizing it, the chocolatier cringed. He may have been on good terms with his father now, but that didn't mean that he enjoyed being reminded of all the time the elder Wonka had forced him to spend in the dental chair so he could have "perfect" teeth! Shrugging off those unpleasant memories, he addressed Charlie's father once again. "I really didn't mean to upset him so much," he said apologetically.

"I know, and I realize that what happened between you two last night probably didn't help matters. But at this point I think Charlie's issues are far deeper than just being upset with you. As Nora told you last night, Charlie's being going through a rough time for awhile now," James said. "Do you think he's scared?" Willy asked, remembering the conversation he'd had with Ronnie the previous evening (not to mention his flashback to his own early preteen years!). James nodded. "Very much so. In fact, Nora and I think that fear and hormones are the two main things driving his issues," he said. "He seems determined to hide that fact from us, but we've heard him crying in the night a few times, including last night," Nora chimed in.

Willy frowned. As was so often the case, Charlie's actions and behaviors reminded him of his own (the incident he'd remembered in his flashback was far from the only time he'd cried or felt frightened during his pubescent years!). And for once, he wished that they didn't. "I hate seeing him like this," he said. "We all do. But without him being willing to talk to us, there's really not much we can do," James said, sounding as frustrated as he looked. "Do you think there's any chance he'd be willing to talk to me?" Willy asked, figuring now was as good a time as any to bring up the reason he had come to the Bucket cottage in the first place. Nora looked thoughtful. "I think he might. I know he's a bit upset with you at the moment, but he DOES consider you to be one of his best friends. I'd say it's at least worth a try," she said.

"More like he DID consider me one of his best friends," Willy thought gloomily. "I suppose I'd better go find him, then," he said, making himself sound far more optimistic than he felt. "When he left here after breakfast, he said he was going to his "thinking spot"," James said, answering the question the candy maker hadn't asked aloud. Luckily, Willy knew exactly what Charlie had meant by "thinking spot". "Thanks. I'll be on my way, then," he told the Buckets and Ronnie. "Good luck!" James said. "And don't worry, I'm sure you'll do fine," Nora added (Willy's fake optimistic attitude clearly hadn't fooled her a bit!). "I'll be thinking about you," Ronnie whispered, giving her husband a light peck on the lips. Taking a deep breath, the chocolatier opened the door and stepped out into the Chocolate Room.

**WWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW**

It didn't take Willy more than a few minutes to reach Charlie's "thinking spot", an area on the banks of the Chocolate River with a particularly breath-taking view of the waterfall as well as several of the Chocolate Room's culinary masterpieces. Like he did on most of his visits to that area, the preteen sat facing the waterfall. Usually he could spend hours watching what was perhaps the most unique of all the rather unusual features in the factory's nerve center. On that morning, however, the confectioner had a sneaking suspicion that his apprentice was taking very little to no notice of his surroundings. "I guess it's now or never," Willy silently said to himself. Trying to keep as calm as possible, he started walking towards his protégé...and promptly tripped over a small candy plant (in his nervousness he had forgotten to pay attention to where he was walking!).

Fortunately, the confectioner managed to grab onto a nearby candy tree and steady himself before he fell over completely. He had barely had time to re-orient himself when Charlie, having been alerted to his presence by the noise of his stumble, whirled around to face him. "What are you doing here?" he demanded, his expression making it clear that he was not at all happy to see his mentor. "I want to talk to you," Willy said. "Why? So you can stab me in the back again?" Charlie snapped. Willy sighed. Obviously Charlie's anger towards him hadn't cooled any overnight. "Of course not. I want to talk to you because you're my friend and I don't like seeing you hurt so much," he explained. Unfortunately, all that seemed to do was make his protégé even angrier.

"Liar! If you were my friend, you'd actually care about me!" the boy spat, pointedly turning away from his mentor. "Charlie please, just listen!" Willy pleaded. "I think I've done more than enough of that!" Charlie yelled. Then he turned and started stomping away from his mentor...only to be stopped by a sudden strong grip on his shoulder. Annoyed, the youngest Bucket immediately tried to pull away, but Willy refused to relinquish his hold. "I'm not going to let you run away this time, Charlie. I came here to talk to you, and I've no intentions of either of us leaving until I do," he insisted. Realizing that the candy maker meant business, the younger of the two males sighed and slumped his shoulders. "All right, fine. If you want to talk so badly, then talk," he said, his voice neutral.

Willing himself to stay calm and not allow his nervousness to make him say or do anything stupid, the chocolatier began to speak. "The last thing I wanted to do last night was hurt you. I felt horrible when I realized you'd heard me say what I did about the Golden Ticket contest," he said. "Somehow I have a hard time believing that," Charlie muttered. "Why?" Willy asked, surprised to note that his heir didn't look angry anymore. Instead, he looked sad and a bit scared. The boy's answer, however, surprised the chocolatier even more.

"Because you're going to throw my family and I out of the factory!" he said, his tone indicating that he was struggling to keep from crying. "Now why in the world would you think I'd do something like that?" Willy inquired, unable to hide his shock. "Simple. You're having your own child now, so you don't need me anymore, or my family either. And why bother to keep something useless around?" by the time he finished his sentence, Charlie was no longer struggling to keep from crying. Instead, tears were running down his cheeks and his thin body was shaking with sobs.

To say that Willy was stunned would be an understatement. Here he had been assuming that jealousy had been what was behind Charlie's behavior towards him, when in fact it had really been mostly feelings of fear and betrayal. Feeling a bit uneasy (since he wasn't sure how his apprentice would react to the gesture) he held out his arms. To his surprise, Charlie hesitated for only a second or two before allowing himself to accept his mentor's comfort. Willy waited until the boy's tears had subsided a bit. Then he said, "Charlie, I'm sorry. I really didn't mean for any of this to happen". Charlie looked up at him, as though not sure whether to believe him or not. "D-do you really mean that?" he hiccuped. Willy nodded. "Absolutely". "Does that mean you're not going to throw my family and I out of the factory?" Charlie asked warily.

"Charlie, I wouldn't have told you something as major as that I was giving you the factory if I hadn't meant it," Willy said firmly. "I'm sure you meant it at the time, Willy. But you couldn't have imagined at that time that you'd be having your own child. Of course you're going to want to give the factory to your own flesh and blood," Charlie said. "Yes, but that doesn't mean that I can't give it to you, too. The last time I looked, there was no law stating that I can't have more than one heir," Willy replied, his eyes twinkling in that mischievous, joking way that Charlie knew all too well. "You really still want me to be your heir?" he asked, looking a bit more hopeful. "Of course I do! And when Ronnie's and my child is old enough to start learning about the candy making process and the running of the factory, I'll have the perfect person to help with the teaching," Willy told him.

For the first time in days, Charlie smiled at his mentor. "I'm glad that I was wrong about you not wanting me anymore," he said. Clearing his throat, the candy maker looked directly into the boy's eyes and said, "Don't ever for even one second think that I don't want you, Charlie. Some of my decisions may be a bit questionable, to say the very least, but picking you as my heir is definitely not one of them". Charlie laughed. He and his family loved the chocolatier dearly, but that didn't stop them from joking with him about his rather eccentric ways (although joking was putting it pretty mildly when it came to Grandpa George)! Then, growing serious again, he addressed his friend. "I'd say the entire process you used to go about picking me as your heir was one of your best ideas. Not very many people could think of something that clever, " he marveled.

Now it was Willy who looked sad. "You're giving me praise that I don't really deserve," he said, his voice soft and full of regret. Charlie looked at him in shock. "What do you mean?" he inquired. "You may have been wrong about me seeing Ronnie's and my baby as a replacement for you, but you were absolutely right about the rest of the stuff you said about the Golden Ticket contest last night," the candy maker explained. "I don't understand," Charlie said, looking more confused than ever. "You told me, well rather you yelled it, I guess, that the contest was just a convenient way for me to avoid having to 'go to the trouble of having a child'. Well, you were right. I DID come up with the contest mainly so that I wouldn't have to worry about having an heir the old fashioned way. The idea of being a father, or even a husband, for that matter, scared me and I took the cowardly way out," the candy maker admitted.

Charlie could scarcely believe what he was hearing. Ever since he had met Willy Wonka on that day nearly two years earlier, he had seen the somewhat odd but lovable man display several different emotions. He had watched the chocolatier get angry, light up with joy when one of his candies proved to be an extreme success, and experience immense love for the woman who was now his wife. But if the confectioner had ever been scared, he certainly hadn't showed it. So hearing his usually confident, sure-of-himself mentor admit that it had been largely fright that had led him to devise the Golden Ticket contest was rather surprising (and even, Charlie had to admit, a bit upsetting). "You? Scared? But you never get scared! In fact, you're pretty much the most confident person I know!" he exclaimed.

Willy sighed as he once again looked into the warm blue eyes of his protégé. "I wish that were true, Charlie, but it isn't. I get scared just like everyone else. I just try not to make that fact obvious to others, mostly because my father always told me that men who show fear are sissies," he confessed. "Just like the boys at school," Charlie said without thinking. It was then that Willy realized that his guess the previous night had been correct. His apprentice was being teased, just as he himself had been those twenty odd years ago. "You've been getting teased, haven't you?" he said gently. Knowing there was no way he could hide the true extent of the emotional roller-coaster that he was on from his friend any longer, Charlie nodded.

"Yes. My body is...well let's just say things have been changing, and it's been making me feel awkward and a bit scared. Unfortunately, I've let that fear show at school and the other boys taunt me about it. They say that boys who get scared are sissies and wimps," he practically whispered, the very thought of the torment that was now part of his life making his eyes sting. "Would you believe that I was called those same names when I was your age?" Willy asked, his expression sympathetic and caring. "You got picked on, too?" Charlie asked, looking at his mentor in surprise. "And how. I was living at the city orphanage at the time, and the other boys there seemed to delight in making my life as miserable as possible. Among other things, they called me 'Wimpy Willy'," the confectioner lamented.

Before Charlie could stop it, a chuckle escaped from his throat. "I'm really sorry, Willy. I promise you I didn't mean to laugh at that. I just..." he stammered. "Charlie, it's okay," the candy maker interrupted him, putting his hand on his shoulder. "I suppose I should have told you about my feelings earlier rather than just sulking around," the boy commented. Willy grinned. "You were just taking after your stubborn mentor," he said. Charlie laughed again...and this time he didn't try to stop it. "Honestly, Willy, you are something else!" he exclaimed as hugged the chocolatier. As Willy returned the hug, he couldn't help but think what a relief it was that he and Charlie were friends again.

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 13 Preview: <strong>Valentine's Day- and Willy's and Ronnie's one-year anniversary of being a couple- arrives, and the Wonkas' celebration turns out even better than they expected when they recieve some very special gifts...from a very special source! Also, we get to see a bit more of Ronnie's "naughty" side. :)


	13. Chapter 13: Snozzberry Kisses

**Disclaimer: **Baby Wonka is the only thing in this story that's mine!

**A/n: **As promised, this is a very "light" fluffy chapter. The story also actually lives up to it's rating a bit here, and we see a bit more from the Wonkas than just day-to-day newlywed sweetness! ;) Enjoy, and as always a BIG thanks to my one reviewer for the last chapter! Please keep 'em coming!

* * *

><p>Ronnie sighed and stretched as she woke up. It was over a month since Willy had straightened things out with Charlie, and since then both males had much happier. Things still got a bit rocky between the two at times- the factory's youngest human resident was, after all, still going through the emotional journey of puberty- but overall life for everyone at the factory was much more pleasant now. On that February morning, though, all of that was about the furthest thing from Ronnie's mind. You see, this wasn't just any old ordinary morning. It was Valentine's Day, a holiday that was very special to the Wonkas because of the important milestone it marked for them: their first anniversary of being a couple (for it had been on Valentine's Day the previous year that they'd had their first date).<p>

Grinning, Ronnie turned over to give her husband a good morning kiss. Only then did she realize that his side of the bed was empty. "That's odd," she thought. Generally, the couple woke up at around the same time (which was more often than not followed by a quiet, loving cuddle session), and when one of them DID wake up before the other and creep out of bed, it was almost always Ronnie. Willy, despite his workaholic nature, preferred to sleep in when he could. About the only time he didn't was when he had a meeting or something else out of the ordinary going on that required him to be at work earlier than usual. But that wasn't the case that morning. In fact, Willy had informed Ronnie the night before that he intended to take the day off so they could spend their Valentine's Day anniversary together.

That meant, Ronnie knew, that the chocolatier's early rising had to have been voluntary. She also knew that she wasn't going to figure out why he had done so by lying in bed. So, with a sense of determination, she got up and headed for the door. "I just hope I don't end up startling him as he's coming down the hall or something," she thought as she opened it. Then she smiled as, almost instantly, her nose was greeted with the smell of breakfast cooking and her ears with the sound of the soft, gentle voice that she loved so much humming "Pure Imagination"...both of which made her husband's whereabouts quite obvious. "Now the question is, do I go into the kitchen? Or do I wait for him to come get me?" she asked herself. Her curiosity about what Willy was cooking quickly getting the better of her, she opted for the former.

At first, the confectioner didn't seem to notice her presence. He was standing at the stove, stirring something as he continued to hum. The adjacent counter tops were barely visible under the mound of pots, pans, bowls, utensils, and various other dishes and cooking tools that covered them. Willy, needless to say, tended to use the "every pot in the house" method when he cooked (he especially embraced it when he was making candy, explaining why the Inventing Room was almost perpetually cluttered)! It was, however, the rich, decadent aromas filling the air that most caught Ronnie's attention. While the whiff of her husband's cooking that she'd gotten in the hallway was wonderful, it paled in comparison to the delightful smells now engulfing her. "Divine! Simply divine!" she breathed.

"A divine breakfast for a divine lady," Willy said as he turned from the stove to face his wife, a twinkle in his eyes and a grin stretched across his face. Without giving Ronnie a chance to respond, he walked over to her and kissed her tenderly. "Happy Valentine's Day anniversary, ma cherie," he said. "Can you believe it's been only one short year since I headed over here for the completion of my tour?" Ronnie asked in response. Willy shook his head, then smiled again. "I don't know about you, but I think I can safely say that within about five minutes or so of your arrival, I had pretty much forgotten about the tour," he said. "Same here. I had much more important things to think about," Ronnie said, smiling back. Then she looked down at her now slightly rounder midsection. "And to think that this is where the 'tour' led," she mused.

**WWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW**

Just a short while later, the couple was sitting down to breakfast (their rather mushy moment in the kitchen having ended quite abruptly when a slightly burnt odor alerted them to the fact that Willy had neglected his cooking a bit too long!). "This looks so good I almost don't want to eat it!" Ronnie commented. It wasn't unusual for Willy to go all out when he cooked, but today's culinary masterpieces were exceptional even for him. He had made triple-deluxe pancakes (chocolate pancakes topped with strawberries and drizzled with a luscious mixed-berry syrup), "Wonktastic" omelets (the "lightest" of the foods the chocolatier had prepared, including shredded cheese, ham, and what Willy would only say was a "top-secret" mixture of spices), bacon, and even, as a nod to the type of cuisine they had eaten on that first date one year earlier, breakfast cannoli (a type of Italian pastry).

As you can probably guess, it didn't take long for Ronnie's stomach to overcome her desire for leaving her husband's edible art intact. "You really outdid yourself this time, Willy. This is heavenly!" Ronnie exclaimed as she ate a forkful of pancake. The candy maker beamed. "You have no idea how happy it makes me to hear you say that. I've been working on that recipe for weeks. I know how much you liked the chocolate and strawberry waffle I made you on our wedding day, so I wanted to do something like that again," he said. "Well, you did a fantastic job! The rest of the world may think they're lucky to be able to eat your delicious candies, but if you ask me I'm even luckier. I get to taste ALL of your cooking," Ronnie declared. Willy's cheeks flushed pink. "Aw, shucks," he said.

Ronnie chuckled softly. "You're so cute when you act all shy and modest!" she told her husband. "Thanks, but please do me a favor and never say that in front of Charlie. He'd never let me live it down!" the confectioner replied, his cheeks growing even redder. "And have him get grossed out and accuse us of being too mushy? Never!" Ronnie joked, her chuckles becoming a full-fledged laugh. Willy laughed, too. "I know I've probably said this at least six dozen times already, but I'm so relieved that I was finally able to work things out with him," he said. "Not as relieved as I am to see the two of you happy again," Ronnie playfully retorted, the mischievous look in her eyes making it clear that, although her comment included both mentor and apprentice, she was thinking about the former far more than the latter.

After a few minutes of silence (during which the couple focused on their meals), Willy brought up an altogether different topic. "What time are we supposed to be at Sally's again?" he asked (Ronnie's four month prenatal check-up was scheduled for that day). "Eleven o'clock on the nose," Ronnie replied. "Then we'd better pack right after breakfast," the chocolatier said. "Uh, we're going to my doctor's office, not on a hike. Somehow I don't think packing will be necessary," Ronnie insisted, looking at her husband as though he'd lost his mind. "Who says that's all we're doing today?" Willy asked, his eyes twinkling. Ronnie knew exactly what that twinkle meant. "Okay, what do you have planned?" she asked. "You're just going to have to wait and see," Willy replied, his lips turned upward in a rather impish grin.

Willy's hinting at some sort of getaway made breakfast suddenly seem to go a lot quicker (although the duo wasn't entirely sure whether that was due to eagerness or just their imaginations) and soon the table was cleared, the dishes washed and put in the dishwasher, and the packing begun. Ronnie tried just about everything she could think of to trick Willy into revealing his plans while they dressed (even pointing out that she couldn't know what to pack unless she knew where they were going) and loaded their suitcases, but the chocolatier refused to let so much as a clue slip. By the time they were heading to her appointment, she was practically going crazy with curiosity!

**WWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW**

"I still can't quite get used to the fact that my visits to the doctor no longer include sitting for ten to fifteen minutes in a waiting room!" Ronnie thought as she and Willy arrived at Sally's office. She had grown so accustomed to having to play the waiting game at the clinic she'd gone to before marrying Willy that being able to go directly to the exam room (not to mention having the doctor right there waiting for her which, naturally, hadn't been the case at the other clinic) had come as a bit of a shock (albeit a refreshing one!) to her.

"Good morning Mrs. Wonka, Mr. Wonka," Sally greeted the couple as she entered the room (she'd left briefly so that Ronnie could change into her gown). Then she noticed the suitcases and glanced back and forth between them and their owners, a quizzical expression on her face. "Don't worry, we're not moving in. Willy's taking me on some sort of mystery trip after we get done here," Ronnie explained. Sally laughed. "I was wondering a little, since you don't normally bring suitcases with you to your check-ups," she admitted. "I had pretty much the same reaction when Willy suggested we pack before coming here," Ronnie chuckled.

Flipping back into professional mode, Sally wheeled her stool over to the exam table (which Ronnie was already seated on). "Since I'm sure you're eager to head out on that trip, I suppose we'd better get started with the check-up. As you know, it's going to be a bit on the longer side today since we're doing an ultrasound," she said. "How could I forget? After all, this may not be my first ultrasound, but it will be my first under normal circumstances," Ronnie pointed out. Smiling at her patient's excitement, Sally climbed onto her stool. "So no complaints or concerns this month?" she asked.

"Just one," Willy spoke up. "And what would that be, Mr. Wonka?" Sally inquired as both she and Ronnie turned to look at him. "Ronnie still being on pelvic rest!" Willy explained (Ronnie's pelvic rest had not, needless to say, come to an end after the initial three weeks. At her last check-up, Sally had instead decided to switch it from "full" to "partial", meaning that several of the restrictions were lightened or removed. Much to Ronnie's and Willy's chagrin, the abstinence requirement was among the few that weren't!). "Willy!" Ronnie hissed, her cheeks reddening. "Well, she asked if we had any complaints!" Willy insisted. "I'm pretty sure that question was mostly directed at me," Ronnie informed him, an edge of annoyance in her voice.

Sally, meanwhile, was struggling not to laugh at the confectionery couple's rather amusing exchange. "I take it your trip isn't the only thing you're eager for, Mr. Wonka," she told the candy maker. Now it was Willy who had the flushed cheeks. "Perhaps we'd better get on with the exam," he muttered, wishing the floor would open up and swallow him. Sally felt guilty. She hadn't meant to make her boss feel uncomfortable. "I'm sorry, Mr. Wonka. That probably wasn't the most professional thing for me to say," she apologized. "What you said was fine. I'm the one who should have kept his big mouth shut," Willy said firmly. "You didn't say anything wrong, either," Sally insisted. Then, sensing that the chocolatier didn't want to discuss the issue any further, she turned her attention to her patient.

The pint-sized doctor was thorough but swift in conducting the examination, and soon all that was left to do was the ultrasound. "Before I begin, are you two interested in knowing the gender of your child? It's far enough along now that I could probably tell," Sally inquired. Willy and Ronnie looked at each other. Whether to find out if their unborn child was a boy or a girl was something they hadn't really spoken about (or even thought about). Yet despite that fact, neither of them had to think for even a second about what their answer was going to be. "No," they said in unison. "After nearly losing this baby, all that matters to me is that he or she is healthy," Ronnie added. Willy nodded emphatically. "All right then, my lips are sealed," Sally said as she began running the probe over Ronnie's protruding abdomen.

Within moments, images of the littlest Wonka began appearing on the screen. "There's the body, the head...and it appears we've got a thumb-sucker here," Sally said, pointing out the aforementioned parts of the baby's body as she spoke. Willy and Ronnie nodded, too stunned and awed to speak. Two mere months earlier, they had seen a tiny "gumdrop". Now they were seeing a still tiny but very recognizable baby. "Beautiful," Willy finally said, his voice barely higher than a whisper. Ronnie looked lovingly at him. She knew that he was speaking about far more than just the baby. He was also speaking about the wonder of new life, new life that they had created together no less...a wonder that they hadn't fully appreciated until now.

"Now she's waving!" Willy's voice suddenly broke into his wife's thoughts. Ronnie (who had decided to simply ignore her husband's frequent use of feminine pronouns to refer to their baby) quickly turned her attention back to the screen. Sure enough, the baby was moving his or her arm back and forth! Then the mother-to-be noticed something else. "Call me crazy, but I think the baby's smiling, too!" she marveled. "It's almost as if she or he knows you're watching," Sally put in. The trio observed the baby for another couple of minutes (during which time Sally also checked the baby's heart beat and measurements among other things).

Then Sally shut off the machine and turned to look at her patient, a rather large smile on her face. "I think that should do it. The baby looks very healthy and is growing right on target. Basically, everything appears to be going exactly how it should be. Considering the fact that the bleeding has shown no signs of returning and you're past the first trimester, I'd say the risk of it recurring is extremely low at this point," she said. "Does this mean you're taking me off of pelvic rest?" Ronnie asked (although she had been a bit annoyed when Willy had asked about earlier, she was just as eager for it to be over as he was!). "Yes. You probably shouldn't try turning somersaults or lifting something extremely heavy, but short of that you shouldn't have any problems," Sally replied. The appointment wrapped up shortly after that, and the Wonkas left the office grinning like cheshire cats.

**WWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW**

Considering the fact that it had been exactly one year ago that their family had begun, Willy and Ronnie had fully expected the day to be emotional for them. But neither of them could have anticipated the effect that seeing their baby for the first time (although the emergency ultrasound Ronnie had undergone back in December had technically been the first time, they didn't count it as such due to the fact that they hadn't cared about anything other than whether their baby was alive at the time) was having on them. They were filled with joy, pride and overwhelming love for each other and their unborn child. They also felt a sense of relief. Although neither had wanted to admit it, both had been worried that, with this day being as special as it was to them, they wouldn't be able to restrain themselves from going against the restrictions of Ronnie's pelvic rest. Knowing that they no longer had to be concerned about that was the icing on the cake, so to speak.

With neither of them knowing quite what to say, the couple walked in silence for several minutes, eventually reaching a wall with a button on it. Willy pushed it, and a previously hidden panel swung open to reveal the chocolate river. Tied to a small platform that jutted out from the panel was the purple row boat (actually it was more like a fake row boat, as the oars were controlled electronically) that the Oompa Loompas had given the Wonkas as as wedding present. Willy loaded the suitcases onto it, then offered his hand to Ronnie and announced, "All aboard! Ladies first!" To his surprise, his wife didn't accept the gesture. "I insist that YOU go first this time," she insisted, a rather mischievous look coming over her face. Willy hesitated. He knew it wasn't proper for a man to go ahead of a woman (one of the few positive life lessons his father had taught him), but he could sense that Ronnie wasn't about to back down. So against his better judgment, the chocolatier climbed into the boat.

Once he was seated, he turned to Ronnie, full intending to offer her his hand again. Before he could, however, she climbed into the boat on her own...and promptly settled herself on his lap! "It won't be too much longer before our little gumdrop makes doing this impossible, so I have to enjoy it while I can," Ronnie explained (she still liked the nickname "gumdrop" despite the fact that the baby no longer looked much like one!), grinning at her husband. "Speaking of whom, I didn't realize today's ultrasound was going to make me so emotional. In fact, I'd have to say that it was almost MORE emotional than the one you had to have when we thought we were losing her," Willy said, looking tenderly at Ronnie as he placed his hand on her midsection. "It was more emotional for me than I had anticipated, too. I thought..." Ronnie cut herself off in mid-sentence, suddenly aware of a rather unusual, butterfly-like sensation in her stomach.

"What's going on?" Willy asked, noticing the odd look on his wife's face. She looked a bit startled, yet at the same time she was smiling slightly and had what the candy maker could only describe as a softness about her eyes. "Willy, our little gumdrop has finally decided to make his or her presence known," Ronnie replied. At first, the confectioner was confused. But after only a brief moment, he understood. "She's moving?" he inquired, just to make sure he had guessed correctly. "That's correct. I think she or he may have been doing so during the ultrasound, too, as I felt a similar sensation then. It just didn't quite "register" at the time because I was so busy looking at the images," Ronnie told him. "What does it feel like?" Willy asked. "Well, at the moment it feels like I've got a Mexican jumping bean inside me!" Ronnie chuckled (the baby, needless to say, was being quite active!).

"I would imagine that finally being able to feel the baby move is a bit reassuring, too, considering our scare and all," Willy said wistfully, resting his hand on his his wife's bulging stomach once more. "That's for sure. I know I won't feel completely at ease until the baby actually makes it into the world safe and sound, but at least now I don't have to constantly wonder whether everything's all right," Ronnie agreed. Then she realized that this special new bonding experience between her and the baby was probably making her husband feel a bit left out.

"Don't worry, you'll be able to feel the baby in a few months, just as soon as his or her kicks get a bit more powerful," she assured him. At this, Willy smiled and began gently rubbing his beloved's belly. "I look forward to it," he said "And I look forward to sharing it with you," Ronnie said, leaning forward (naturally she had arranged herself when she sat down on the candy maker's lap so that she was facing him!) and pressing her lips to the chocolatier's in a soft, loving kiss. In response, Willy wrapped his arms around her and began gently stroking her hair. They remained like that for the next several minutes, so focused on each other that neither of them noticed when the boat, having arrived at its destination, stopped moving (Willy had programmed it so that it would automatically stop upon arrival, thus allowing him to give Ronnie his full attention during the ride).

After another minute or two, the couple finally came out of their embrace. Only then did they realize that they were no longer in the tunnel. "We're here," Willy announced rather unnecessarily. Ronnie nodded absently, only half-listening. Since the previous surprise trips Willy had taken her on had been to Dessert Island, she had fully expected that to be the case this time, too. Instead, her husband had brought her to their other favorite spot in the factory: the Chocolate Room. Noticing her surprise, Willy grinned and said, "I thought about taking you to Dessert Island for our getaway, but we spent both last Valentine's Day and Christmas there, so I figured we should do something a bit different this time."

Ronnie smiled. "You know, this room HAS always seemed rather romantic to me somehow. Maybe it's because this was the first room of the factory that you ever showed me," she mused. Willy gazed fondly at her. "I don't think I've ever told you this before, but my favorite memory of that day is the look on your face when I brought you in here. You looked as though I had just given you the greatest gift in the world," he replied. "And now you have," Ronnie replied, patting the tiny bulge in her midsection. Willy didn't say anything, but simply pulled her into his arms and kissed her once again. After only a minute or two, the confectioner poked his tongue out of his mouth and began licking around the contours of his wife's mouth, not so subtly signaling to her that he wanted to intensify the kiss. Instead of opening to him, however, she stiffened and abruptly pulled away.

"What's wrong, starshine?" Willy asked, Ronnie's actions leaving him very confused and a bit worried. "Nothing. It's just that I suddenly remembered that unlike on Dessert Island, we aren't exactly the only people that know about this room. And the thought of the Buckets or one of the Oompa Loompas catching us getting hot and heavy, or even overhearing us in the throes of passion, for that matter, isn't exactly appealing. We've already managed to nearly scar that one maintenance Oompa Loompa for life as it is," Ronnie explained. It was all Willy could do not to laugh. "They've all cleared out for the day. The Buckets are staying in the Hall of Tasty Bedrooms, and I promised the Oompa Loompas extra cocoa beans in exchange for staying out of here until tomorrow," he assured his wife. "I'm very glad to hear that. Wouldn't want to give any of them nightmares or anything," Ronnie laughed.

"Come on, did you really think I wouldn't insure that we could have the room to ourselves before bringing you here on a day like today?" Willy asked teasingly. "Well, you never know," Ronnie chuckled. "HEY!" Willy cried in mock protest as he playfully bopped her on the shoulder. Then he grew serious again and said, "By the way, I've got something for you". Before Ronnie could react, he reached into one of the pockets of his tailcoat, pulled out a heart-shaped box. "It's a new type of candy I made," he said as he handed it to Ronnie.

Eagerly, Ronnie untied the ribbon that was wrapped around the box and opened it. Inside were what appeared to be chocolates shaped like gumdrops. "They look delicious!" she exclaimed. "Go ahead, try one! They're chocolate-coated snozzberry gumdrops," Willy told her. Smiling, Ronnie picked up a gumdrop and prepared to eat it. "I should warn you, though, it's best if you pop the whole..." before Willy could finish his sentence, Ronnie had bitten into the gumdrop...which caused snozzberry juice (and with it some of the chocolate) to squirt right into his face!

Ronnie wasn't sure just what she had expected the gumdrops to be like, but it certainly hadn't included them behaving like grape tomatoes on steroids! "No wonder he was trying to warn me to pop the whole thing into my mouth at once instead of biting into it!" she thought. Feeling rather sheepish, she looked at her husband, planning to apologize. But then she noticed that the snozzberry juice and chocolate had landed primarily on and around his mouth. A mischievous twinkle coming into her eye, she leaned forward and began licking the sweet, succulent substance off the chocolatier's face. In response, Willy moaned softly and slightly parted his lips. Seeing her chance, Ronnie thrust her tongue into his mouth, turning the licking into the most passionate kiss she was capable of giving. This caused Willy's moans to intensify and he began hungrily running his hands through her hair.

Almost on their own, the candy maker's hands slowly moved from the top of Ronnie's head down to her neck and then to her shoulders. His passion increasing with every passing second, he reached one of his hands under his wife's shirt and pulled down her bra strap. As he gently caressed the soft, smooth skin of her bosom, Ronnie let out a moan that put his to shame. One of the more positive "side effects" of her pregnancy was the fact that she had increased sensitivity in that region of her body, meaning that she was able to enjoy her husband's loving touch even more than usual.

Within a matter of moments, the couple had seated themselves on the ground and had removed their shirts (and Ronnie her bra). With that task done, Willy wasted no time in intensifying his fondling of Ronnie, her moans now bordering on screams. Pushed almost to the brink now, she knew that there was only one thing that could satisfy her raging hormones now. Desperate for release, she quickly (and somewhat roughly) pushed on Willy's shoulders until he was laying down, allowing herself to fall on top of him. Then, without missing so much as a beat, she thrust her hips forward, causing them to grind into her husband's pelvis. Letting out a scream of his own, he unzipped his pants and slipped them off in one quick movement, followed by his underwear. Ronnie did the same, and in mere seconds the Chocolate Room, the factory, what day it was, even the fact that she was pregnant were forgotten as her world collided with Willy's and she was enveloped by a feeling of sheer and utter bliss.

**WWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW**

Approximately one hour later, the Chocolate Room was almost completely silent. In contrast to the moans and screams of pleasure that had filled it just sixty minutes earlier, the only noise to be heard was the waterfall. Most of the factory's residents were now eating lunch in their respective rooms or living quarters. Willy and Ronnie, however, could have cared less that it was lunchtime. In fact, they weren't even aware of it. Happy and content (not to mention rather drained- in more ways than one in Willy's case!- from their passionate love-making session), they were curled up together near the banks of the Chocolate River...sound asleep!

* * *

><p><strong>An: **So Willy and Ronnie are happy and content now that the issue with Charlie has finally been resolved. Unfortunately, that's not going to last long. Things are going to get difficult for the Wonkas, particularly Willy, again in the next chapter. I know, I know, it seems like we keep flip-flopping between happy and sad. I didn't neccesarily start out with the intention of writing things that way, but as often happens with stories, this one has quickly taken on a life of its own!

**Chapter 14 Preview:** A few months have passed since February, and as Ronnie's due date draws closer, Willy begins having some very unsettling dreams...which quickly begin affecting his every day life, as well as his relationship with Ronnie.


	14. Chapter 14: Concerning Nightmares

**Disclaimer: **With the exception of Baby Wonka, I don't own a darn thing in this story!

**A/n: **Well, I warned you last chapter that this one was going to be another emotional and "heavy" one...and it is. It also contains a few "new" things, including a flashback with a difference. I hope you enjoy it, and as always thank you to my one reviewer for the last chapter. I shouldn't even have to say this anymore, but please keep them coming! :)

* * *

><p><em>He couldn't believe it. He WOULDN'T believe it. Ronnie's bleeding had started again...and this time it hadn't had a happy ending. She had lost their child, their precious child that they had been so excited about. And now, as he sat on the bathroom floor cradling her in his arms, it was clear that she, too, was slipping away. Her skin was pale, <em>_her breathing shallow. "Stay with me, starshine, stay with me!" he pleaded. Frantically, he tried to reach into his pocket for his WonkaPhone. But his arm was paralyzed. He tried his other arm, but that, too, refused to move. _

_All he could do was sit there and watch helplessly as his beloved Ronnie continued to deteriorate. She looked at him, clearly wanting to tell him something. "What is it?" he asked her. She moved her lips, but no sound emerged. Again and again she tried to talk, only for her efforts to produce nothing but silence. "You've got to save your strength, buttercup!" he urged her. She gave him a longing, sorrowful look and tried one last time to speak. But once again, only silence resulted. Then her breathing stopped and she went limp. He let out a strangled cry and tears began flowing freely from his eyes. "Why did this have to happen? Why?" he screamed..._

Willy woke with a start. At first, he didn't know where he was. Then, gradually, it registered. He was in his bedroom, not in the bathroom, and he was no longer cradling Ronnie. Still feeling rather panicky, he turned to look at the other side of the bed. Much to his relief, his wife was lying there perfectly unharmed, sleeping peacefully. Moving carefully so as not to wake her, Willy reached over and put his hand on her large, round belly as if for reassurance that the baby, too, was okay. "It was only a dream, it was only a dream," he whispered, trying to calm himself. Unfortunately, his self-talk did little to soothe his frazzled nerves. Knowing he wasn't going to be able to fall back asleep any time soon, he slipped out of bed as quietly as he could. Without even bothering to put on his slippers he tip-toed out of the room and into his study.

Up until now, the two months since Valentine's Day had been a mostly happy time for the Wonkas. With the riskiest part of the pregnancy behind them and Ronnie now being able to detect the baby's movements, they had relaxed a bit and turned their full attention to prepping for parenthood. Willy especially had been embracing his upcoming role. He delighted in seeing Ronnie's abdomen rather rapidly expand and it was seldom that he wasn't interacting with it. He rubbed it, squeezed it (gently of course!), patted it, kissed it and even, now that the baby could hear, talked to it. It wasn't an exaggeration to say that he had been, as they say, on cloud nine.

Now, however, the chocolatier felt as though those happy moments had happened in another lifetime. Instead of feeling excited about the fact that he was going to be a father, he felt scared and shaken. Not only had Willy's dream, make that his nightmare, been one of the scariest he had ever had, but it had also been extremely vivid. He had been able to see every detail of Ronnie's face and the paleness of her skin, feel her weight and warmth in his arms, and hear her breathing get shallower and shallower. Perhaps because of that, the images still hadn't even begun to leave his head. They kept flashing through his mind, like a movie on constant replay.

Desperate to get rid of them, he shook his head violently, then held it in his hands and "pounded" it on his desk. Much to his dismay, all he managed to do was give himself a headache (in truth, it had started to come on a few minutes earlier, thanks to his emotional state. None the less, all that jerking around hadn't exactly done him any favors!). Giving a sigh of defeat, he rested his head on his hand. He was simply, it appeared, going to have to resign himself to a mostly sleepless night. He knew he really ought to take some Tylenol for his headache, but he didn't particularly feel like getting up to go get it. So he continued to sit there at his desk, trying, not very successfully, to sort through his emotions.

"Willy? What are you doing up at this hour?" a soft, concerned, very familiar voice said suddenly. "I couldn't sleep," Willy explained as he turned to face his wife, who was standing in the doorway. "I figured that much out," Ronnie said, her tone making it clear that she knew exactly what her husband was trying to do and that she wasn't about to let him. "I should have known she wasn't going to accept that as an answer!" Willy thought. "I have a headache and..." he trailed off, not sure what else to say. Although he appreciated Ronnie's concern, he didn't really want to discuss his nightmare with her, or anyone else for that matter. Having to keep reliving it in his mind was bad enough. Besides which, he told himself, who wants to hear about a nightmare that involved them dying? The mere thought of what had happened to Ronnie in his dream caused a tear to trickle down the confectioner's cheek.

"Somehow I don't think a headache is what's keeping you from sleeping, Willy," Ronnie said gently. When Willy didn't answer, she spoke again. "What is it that's got you so upset?" she asked. "It's really not that big of a deal. I'll be fine," Willy replied, managing, as he so often did, to answer the question without really answering it. "If it wasn't a big deal, then it wouldn't be making you cry," Ronnie said firmly, struggling to keep her exasperation from showing. "I'd really rather not talk about it. It's over now and I'm sure I'll feel better by morning," Willy insisted. Ronnie sighed. Part of her felt bad for her husband, but the other part felt annoyed with him for being so stubborn. "Why does he have such a knack for making me want to hug him and strangle him at the same time?" she wondered to herself.

Against her better judgment, she decided to try once more to get her husband to open up. "You know, I felt a lot better after I convinced myself to talk to you about the fears I was having after our scare. Talking might make you feel better, too," she said pointedly. "I said I don't want to!" Willy burst out. Ronnie knew she shouldn't take it personally. After all, it wasn't uncommon for Willy to get stubborn and after having been in a relationship with him for well over a year, she knew it was simply the way he was rather than a reflection on her or anyone else. Still, she couldn't help but feel a bit hurt. Stubbornness may have been somewhat normal for Willy, but not being willing to talk to her wasn't. "I was only trying to help," she said softly. Then she turned and left the room to head back to bed.

Now the chocolatier felt worse than ever. Even though he had been extremely stubborn about answering her questions pretty much from the moment she entered the room, Ronnie had shown him nothing but concern, care, and support. But instead of thanking her or acting grateful to her in any way, he had hurt her. "Good going Willy, good going! You just had to snap, didn't you?" he scolded himself. Fully intending to go back to resting his head on his hand and continuing to sit gloomily at his desk, he instead found himself reaching for one of the drawers. Still acting without really thinking, he opened it and pulled out a small, leather-bound book. It was pretty nondescript, and to anyone else probably wouldn't have seemed like anything special. To the confectioner, however, it was a very important and special possession...for it was filled with his most personal thoughts, fears, and dreams.

Although the experiences that Willy wrote about in his journal (he preferred to call it that rather than a diary as he felt that the latter term wasn't exactly super-masculine) were varied, they all had one thing in common: They involved him being in and dealing with extremely emotional situations. He had started the journal shortly before he closed the factory, as a way to help himself cope with the issue of the spies and the betrayal of what he had thought were loyal workers. While putting pen to paper hadn't, of course, completely taken away the hurt, it had calmed him and helped relieve some of his stress. It had also helped him to sort out his thoughts and figure out what he wanted to do. Ever since then, he had used writing as a way to express and organize his thoughts during difficult and confusing times, as well as times when he was such a jumble of emotions that even he couldn't quite figure out what he was feeling.

Journal writing had, for many years, been a rather sporadic activity for Willy. But meeting (or rather re-meeting, since they'd known each other as kids) Ronnie had quickly changed that. Falling in love with her, marrying her and having a child with her (not to mention the problems he'd had with Charlie just a few months earlier) had meant that, within the past year, his journal had gotten quite a workout. And now it was about to get yet another dose of his thoughts. Pen in hand, the candy maker opened the book and began flipping through it to get to a blank page, trying not to get distracted by the previous entries as he did so.

This was easy enough for the first half or so of the book, which contained his thoughts about the spies and what they had done to him and his factory. The second half, however, was a different story. A smile tugged at the corners of his lips as he scanned over what he had written about his developing feelings for Ronnie and his courtship of her. Reading about how naive he had been during that time was rather comical (not to mention slightly embarrassing!). "I can't believe it took me so long to realize that the reason I felt so weird was because I was in love with her!" he thought. Reminding himself that he'd gotten his journal out to write in it, not read it, he started flipping through it again...only to stop after just a few pages when another entry caught his eye. It was the one he had written on the morning of the day he and Ronnie became husband and wife...

_I can scarcely believe it. In just a few hours, Veronica Wells will be my wife. I feel happy and excited, which I expected. But I also feel nervous, and that I DIDN'T expect. My heart feels as though it might leap out of my chest at any moment, and I'm afraid that if try to eat anything it will just come right back up. To be perfectly honest, I'm worried I won't be a good husband. Romantic relationships are, after all, one thing I haven't had a whole lot of experience with. Yes, we've been together for awhile and Ronnie certainly hasn't had any complaints, but dating is one thing, marriage is another. Honestly, sometimes I wish I had more confidence in myself..._

At this point, Willy forced himself to stop reading. Looking back over what he had written on the day he had married Ronnie was all well and good (and doing so had, in fact, made him feel a bit calmer), but he knew that there was no way he could keep it up for much longer and still get around to putting his current concerns on paper. "I'm beginning to think that Ronnie has a point when she says that I get distracted too easily!" he thought as he flipped through the journal once again. This time he managed not to look at any of the previous entries, and soon he had found the start of the blank pages.

For several minutes, the only sound in the room was the scratching of the chocolatier's pen against the paper as he allowed his thoughts to flow freely. When he finally set the pen down and closed the journal, he was surprised to find that he was actually sleepy. He still felt a bit uneasy, but now he was fairly confident that he could return to bed and not be kept awake by his fears. Stretching, he got up and put the journal back in its drawer. Then he headed for the bedroom, making a brief detour into the bathroom to answer the call of nature and grab some Tylenol (unfortunately, he still had a bit of a headache) along the way. As he climbed into bed beside Ronnie, he remembered the words he had spoken to her only an hour or so earlier: "I'm sure I'll feel better by morning". "Boy, do I ever hope I was right about that!" he thought as he closed his eyes.

**WWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW**

"Earth to Willy! Earth to Willy!" It was a few days after Willy's nightmare, and Charlie was trying to get his attention as they worked in the Inventing Room. Well, at least they were SUPPOSED to be working. In reality, though, the younger male had been handling most of it. For once, the candy maker was struggling to keep his mind on work (actually, it was more accurate to say that he was barely able to GET his mind on work!). As you can probably guess, he had NOT felt better the morning after his dream. Instead, he had felt worse. Not only was he still feeling a bit down from the events of the night before, but shortly before waking he'd had a second nightmare. Just like in the first one, it had ended with Ronnie's death. This time, however, she had died after giving birth, and while Willy had heard what he THOUGHT was a tiny cry, he was uncertain as to what the baby's ultimate fate had been.

Just as she had the night before, Ronnie had tried to coax the confectioner into telling her what was bothering him (she had woken up at the same time he had, so he hadn't had time to even try to hide his fear and other negative feelings from her). And just as HE had done the previous night, Willy had made it clear that he didn't want to discuss the matter. As the week went on, the situation had only gotten worse. Willy had at least one nightmare each night, usually involving Ronnie dying either in the process of giving birth or after having a miscarriage. He had also had one or two nightmares involving holding a crying baby in his arms and being at a loss as to how to console him or her (despite his dreams being so vivid, the baby's gender was one detail that was never revealed in them).

These nightmares, like the initial one, usually caused him to wake up suddenly in the middle of the night. At first he had simply gotten up and gone into his study when this happened, then returned to the bedroom once he had calmed down a bit. But after having accidentally woken Ronnie up during that process a few times, it had become clear to him that, unless he changed his plan of attack, she wasn't going to be getting much more sleep than he was. So, since there was a couch in his study, he had started sleeping there. As a result of that and his continued unwillingness to talk to Ronnie about his feelings, things between the two had become rather tense. The fact that the candy maker's lack of sleep was quickly catching up to him wasn't exactly helping matters, either.

Initially, Willy had been able to appear more or less normal (or at least as normal as he ever got!) at work. But now even that had become impossible. Charlie had caught him starting to doze off or otherwise let his mind wander nearly a dozen times that day alone...and they still had half an afternoon left of work! And now that list was about to grow yet again. "Willy, wake up!" Charlie exclaimed, trying once more to get his mentor's attention. "Honestly, Willy, you have GOT to get your act together!" the chocolatier silently admonished himself as he turned to look at his apprentice.

"I'm sorry, Charlie. I really don't mean to keep losing my focus," he apologized as he fought to get his mind back where it belonged- on work. "What is with you lately anyway? You fall asleep even when we're discussing some of your favorite projects, I constantly have to remind you to focus on work, and you've made all sorts of easily preventable mistakes with the candy. Not to mention that you showed up for breakfast in your slippers yesterday morning. Forgive me for sounding like my mother, but I'm starting to worry about you!" Charlie burst out.

Willy wasn't sure what to tell his protégé. He didn't want to lie to him, but he wasn't sure telling the truth was the best option in this case, either. Not only did he still not want to talk about his nightmares, but he didn't want to burden Charlie with a problem that he couldn't do anything about. "Things haven't been going the best for me lately," he finally settled for saying. "I'm well aware of that, Willy. I just...Oh, never mind!" Charlie grumbled, letting out an exasperated sigh. "I'll be fine, really. I just need to work through a few things," Willy insisted. Instead of replying, Charlie pointed at the clock. It was five minutes to six, which meant it was time for supper (the Buckets always ate supper at six o'clock sharp). "In other words, I've successfully wasted our last few work hours for the day! No wonder Charlie chewed me out!" Willy groaned inwardly.

**WWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW**

By the time Willy and Charlie had reached the Buckets' cottage, the confectioner had made an important decision. For the hour or so he was eating dinner with the family, he was going to put his troubles aside, relax, and enjoy their company. Smiling, he opened the door (Nora had told him that, as long as Charlie was with him, it was perfectly fine for him to do that without knocking first...especially at mealtimes since he was more or less expected then). "Evening, Buckets!" he said, echoing the greeting James so often used. "I thought I heard you two out there!" Nora replied. Then she tilted her head a bit and looked past Willy and Charlie to the door. "Isn't Ronnie coming?" she asked. Willy shook his head. "No, she decided to eat with Sylvia tonight," he explained.

Nora and James exchanged a glance. They knew that Ronnie sometimes ate at Sylvia's, but usually Willy joined her. It was extremely unusual for the couple not to eat together. They knew something must be up, but decided not to press the issue. "Well, hopefully she can join us tomorrow," James said. Willy (who, by this point, had seated himself at the table with the others) looked down at his plate. "Yeah, hopefully," he muttered. "Willy, is everything all right?" Nora asked gently. "Why wouldn't it be?" Willy countered, a bit more forcefully than he'd intended. Nora looked slightly taken aback. "I was just asking," she said.

"We can't help but notice that you haven't been yourself this week," James put in. "It's not just here, either. He's been acting funny at work, too. I mean, we can be in the middle of one of his favorite projects and all of a sudden he'll start to nod off!" Charlie piped up. Nora frowned. "Have you been having trouble sleeping, Willy?" she asked. "Well...I..." Willy stammered, more than an edge of annoyance in his voice. "We just want to know what's going on with you. You know we consider you part of the family and we're concerned about you, just as we would be about any family member that was obviously going through a tough time," Nora said, her voice soft and caring. "I know they're just trying to help, but I wish they'd get off my back already!" Willy thought. Then, before anyone could say another word, he stood up. "I came here to enjoy dinner, not for you guys to analyze my emotions!" he said as he left the cottage.

**WWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW**

"I should have known my plan to forget about my troubles for a bit wasn't going to work!" Willy thought as he stepped out of the elevator and into his and Ronnie's apartment. Intending to write in his journal, he headed for his study. He had taken about two steps when he heard someone clearing their throat behind him. Turning around, he saw that his wife was sitting on the living room couch. "You're back already?" he blurted out without thinking. "I could say the same thing about you," Ronnie said evenly. "I guess I could have said 'hello' first," Willy said sheepishly, his cheeks flushing. Ronnie had thought that her husband had looked a bit tense as he was starting to walk by her, and now that he had turned around and she could see his face, she knew she had been right. "Are you all right? You look like you're a little on edge," she inquired.

Willy may have been able to keep it together (even if barely!) when Charlie and the other Buckets had asked him that question, but now his patience had reached its limit. "I wish everyone stop asking me that!" he yelled. Ronnie looked stunned. "I can't understand why you're so reluctant to talk to me lately," she said. "You really want to know why?" Willy asked, an almost warning tone to his voice. "Yes, very much so. I also wouldn't mind knowing why you seem to have lost interest in the baby lately, and why you suddenly have such a problem looking me in the eye," Ronnie said, sounding frustrated. "All right then, I'll tell you why! It's because sometimes I wish I'd worn a condom six months ago!" the candy maker exploded.

* * *

><p><strong>An:** Well, if that's not a loaded cliff-hanger, I don't know what is! As with most of my cliff-hangers, it pretty much wrote itself. I'll try not to leave you guys in suspense for too long, as I know you'll be anxious to know what happens with/to the Wonkas next!

**Chapter 15 Preview:** Ronnie learns a startling fact about her husband's past when she discusses their issues with Nora and Sylvia, and Willy finally opens up about his feelings (although not to Ronnie).


	15. Chapter 15: Secrets and Fears

**Disclaimer: **Baby Wonka is mine...you know the rest!

**A/n: **I'll bet you didn't expect another chapter so quickly. Neither did I, but tonight I got in a writing mood, and once I started I just couldn't stop! So instead of just adding a paragraph or two to the chapter-in-progress, I ended up finishing it! I do want to warn you, however, that the next chapter might not come as quickly. I'm leaving for vacation early in June and will be gone for pretty much the rest of the month. I'll try my best to get the next chapter out before then, but I can't make any guarantees. Anyway, I hope you enjoy this chapter, and as usual a BIG thanks goes out to my one reviewer for the last chapter. I know I always say this, but please keep 'em coming!

* * *

><p>"Gray, overcast, and drizzly. Fits my mood perfectly," Ronnie thought as she looked out the bedroom window. It was Saturday, the day after her spat with Willy, and things between the two were more strained than ever. Neither one had said anything more after the chocolatier's outburst. Instead, Willy had gone to his study and Ronnie to their bedroom. Feeling hurt, angry, and upset, the female half of the couple had sat down on the bed and had a good, long cry. By the time she finished, her eyes were puffy and, probably, she knew, red as well.<p>

But she didn't care. She had put on her nightgown and gone to the bathroom to brush her teeth, checking to make sure that Willy was still in his study first (needless to say, she hadn't really wanted to face him right then!). Then she had climbed into bed and spent what seemed like hours tossing and turning (well, as much as the baby would allow her to anyway!), before finally drifting off. Her sleep, not surprisingly, wasn't very sound and she had woken up a couple times during the night. As a result, the morning had found her both tired and still in a bad mood.

If this had been an ordinary Saturday, Ronnie would have simply gone back to sleep for awhile (she usually slept in on weekends due to the fact that the bakery was closed and she didn't have to go to work). But earlier in the week, Sylvia had suggested that she and Nora come to her house for brunch. This wasn't uncommon (in fact, the three women had at least one Saturday "ladies brunch" a month.) and Ronnie hadn't thought anything of it at the time. Now, however, she didn't feel like going ANYWHERE and wished she had declined the invitation for once. On the other hand, having brunch at her mother's meant that she wouldn't have to sit through what would almost certainly have been a very awkward breakfast with Willy (she still wasn't quite ready to face him, and she had a strong hunch the feeling was mutual). "Besides, it beats sitting around and moping!" she thought.

**WWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW**

A few hours later, Ronnie and Nora were sitting at Sylvia's kitchen table as the baker put the finishing touches on their brunch. Although Ronnie still wished her mom hadn't picked that Saturday for their monthly brunch, she had to admit that she was relieved to be away from the factory, and in particular the apartment she shared with Willy, for a bit. With any luck, the change of scenery would help her to relax and clear her head. "Is Willy okay? He seemed pretty upset when he left our place last night," Nora inquired suddenly, interrupting her friend's thoughts. Ronnie looked down at the plate her mother had just placed in front of her. "I guess," she muttered. Nora raised her eyebrows. Ronnie's behavior was virtually identical to that which Willy had displayed the previous evening. Something was going on, but based on her experiences with the chocolatier the night before, she decided it was better not to press the issue.

For the next few minutes, the women ate in silence. Then Ronnie put down her fork and pushed her plate away. "I'm sorry, mom, but as delicious as this food is, I'm just not hungry," she said apologetically. Sylvia wasn't fooled for even one second. Like her, Ronnie loved eating almost as much as loved cooking and baking. It was extremely rare for her to lose her appetite, and when she did it virtually always meant that she was either sick or feeling down. Since she looked healthy enough and had been uncharacteristically quiet during dinner the night before, Sylvia assumed it was the latter. "Ronnie, what's wrong?" she asked her daughter.

Hearing her mother's soft, gentle voice was all it took for the tears to start rolling down Ronnie's cheeks. "Willy seemed agitated when he returned home from the Buckets last night, and we ended up having a fight," she confessed. "Considering the way he was acting at dinner last night, I can't say I'm all that surprised," Nora said. "The most frustrating part is that I don't even know what it is that's bothering him so much. I keep asking him, but he won't tell me," Ronnie lamented. "The fight is just the tip of the iceberg, I take it," Sylvia said. Ronnie nodded.

"Things were just fine up until a week ago. Willy couldn't have been more obvious about his excitement over becoming a father. He would rub my belly, squeeze it, give it kisses and sometimes even lay his head on it. He has yet to admit it, but I'm pretty sure he was trying to hear the baby's movements. It drives him crazy that he hasn't been able to feel his or her kicks yet, so I suppose he thought hearing them would be the next best thing..." Realizing that her every word was probably reminding her mom of the experience she never got to have, she cut herself off.

"I'm sorry, mom. The last thing you need is to hear me gushing about how wonderful Willy has been in terms of the pregnancy up until a week ago," she apologized. Sylvia waved her hand dismissively. "Ronnie, you have every right to gush. You don't need to censor yourself just because I didn't have nearly as good of a pregnancy experience, nor should you," she said firmly. "Well, anyway, that's the way things were until this week. Now he seems depressed a lot of the time and has done pretty much a 180 as far as the baby is concerned. In fact, he's been more or less avoiding me. He's also been getting up at least once per night and has taken to sleeping in his study. He claims he's only sleeping in there so that I can get my rest, but I don't know if I believe that or not," Ronnie explained.

"You said this started about a week ago?" Sylvia inquired, a concerned expression on her face. Ronnie nodded. "Yes. I found him in his study one night when I'd gotten up to go to the bathroom. He was sitting at his desk just staring off into space, and I could tell something was upsetting him. So I asked him what was wrong. He was real vague about it, and then he started crying. And ever since then he's been down and generally uninterested in me or the baby," she told her mother. Before Sylvia could speak, Nora jumped into the conversation, a thoughtful look on her face. "Hmmm. I'm no expert, by any means, but it seems to me that he might be having a bit of anxiety about being a father and perhaps even about the birth," she said. "I think Nora's right, Ronnie. And I have a feeling that Willy's anxiety goes a lot deeper than you may realize," Sylvia said.

Ronnie looked questioningly at her mother. "What do you mean?" she asked. "Well, as you know, Willy never knew his mother," Sylvia began. "I know, mom. She died shortly after he was born. But what does..." Ronnie stopped in mid-sentence. Like a bolt of lightening, a terrible realization had struck her. Not knowing quite what to say, she looked over at Sylvia, almost willing her to say that she was wrong, that the awful conclusion she had come to was wrong. But the elder woman nodded and her blue eyes looked sad. "Yes, Wilhelmina Wonka died in childbirth," she confirmed. "Oh, mom!" Ronnie cried. "I know. Wilbur was devastated, and about the only thing that comforted him was the fact that the baby had survived. I know he may not seem like the most caring of fathers at times, but it was Willy that kept him going after Mina's death," Sylvia said.

"I just remembered that Willy's full first name is Wilhelm. I never thought much of it before, but I suppose it must be after his mother," Nora mused. Again, Sylvia nodded. "It is indeed. According to Wilbur, he and Mina had decided that they would name a boy Wilbur Jr. But when the nurse asked him what the baby's name was, he looked down at the 'one surviving bit of Mina' in his arms and said, 'Wilhelm Walsh Wonka'. Walsh was Mina's maiden name, and she had expressed wanting to pass it on somehow, especially since she was an only child," she said, her eyes now sparkling with tears.

"Well, this certainly explains why Dr. Wonka seemed to have such mixed emotions when Willy and I announced the pregnancy. And Willy..." Ronnie trailed off. She knew now that her husband had more than likely been behaving so oddly because he was scared of losing her the same way he had lost his mother. "I shouldn't have been so irritable and cold towards him," she murmured. Nora didn't need to ask who her friend meant by "him". "Ronnie, don't be so hard on yourself. There's no way you could have possibly known that fright was what was behind Willy's behavior," she said.

"She's right, and even now we don't know that for sure. We just strongly suspect it," Sylvia agreed. "I know, but it was still rather childish of me to think that he was actually uninterested in me or the baby," Ronnie insisted. "That's not childish at all! You said yourself that he was pretty much the picture of a doting, happy father-to-be prior to this week. That changing so fast would set off alarm bells in anyone," Nora assured her. Ronnie wasn't quite sure how to respond. She was grateful that her friend was being so supportive, but she still couldn't help feeling a little guilty about the way she'd treated Willy. "Maybe I had good reason to be frustrated, but that didn't give me the right to basically force him to tell me what was bothering him!" she thought as she took a sip of her tea (the traditional Wells/Wonka/Bucket "ladies brunch" beverage, which Sylvia always served in her best cups).

Just as Ronnie had suspected, her abdomen was bombarded by a series of kicks almost before she had a chance to put her cup down. "Right on cue!" she chuckled. Sylvia and Nora looked puzzled. "What do you mean?" Sylvia asked. "Oh, the baby is kicking right now, which he or she always does when I drink tea," Ronnie explained. Nora laughed. "You just never know what might trigger that!" she said. Ronnie nodded. "So far I've only identified one external kick-trigger besides tea-drinking," she told her brunch companions. "And what would that be?" Sylvia asked. For the first time since the brunch had started, Ronnie smiled. "Willy's voice," she said.

Nora smiled, glad to see that her friend appeared to be feeling better about things. "Let me guess, along with all the other things he was doing before this started, Willy talked to the baby, too," she said. "Since practically the minute he found out that the baby is now developed enough to hear," Ronnie responded (like most first-time parents-to-be, Willy and Ronnie had been doing plenty of reading about their baby's development!). After a brief pause, she continued. "The baby starts kicking regardless of whether he's talking directly to him or her, though. Basically, as long as I'm in the room when he starts talking to someone, our little jumping bean starts exercising those legs!" she said.

Sylvia grinned. "He must have been ecstatic about that," she said. "Actually, he doesn't know," Ronnie said softly, her smile replaced by a frown. She had wanted very much to tell Willy how the baby was responding to his voice, but felt that knowing that fact would only add to his frustration at not yet being able to feel their child's kicks (despite his numerous efforts!). Now, however, she was no longer sure she had made the right decision. While Willy's behavior and moods of lately were no doubt mostly due to his fears, Ronnie knew she had probably contributed a bit by no longer talking much about what was going on inside her. "After all, when I did that he could at least visualize what the baby was doing, even if he couldn't feel him or her. Now he can't even do that!" she thought.

"I need to talk to him," Ronnie said, her voice barely above a whisper. In fact, she was unaware she'd even said it aloud at all until Nora asked, "What was that?" Ronnie pushed her chair back and stood up. "I need to go find Willy and talk to him. This time I won't be so pushy about getting him to open up, and hopefully the fact that I understand his side of things a bit more now will also help. At any rate, talking is the only way we're going to resolve this," she said. "Good luck," Sylvia and Nora told her. "Thanks," Ronnie said as she headed out the door...completely unaware that back at the factory, her husband had just made the same decision about how to sort things out that she had.

**WWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW**

Like Ronnie, Willy had been tired (thanks to his recurring nightmares, he had gotten even less sleep than his wife) and in a bad mood when he woke up that morning. He lay on the couch in his study for a while, listening to the sounds of Ronnie getting up, showering, dressing, and then walking down the hall and leaving the apartment. At first he was a bit surprised that she was leaving so early on a Saturday (and wondered if it was because she was still mad at him), but then he remembered that she had mentioned earlier in the week that she, Nora, and Sylvia were going to have their monthly "ladies brunch" at Sylvia's that morning.

The chocolatier wasn't any more eager to get up than his wife had been, but he and Charlie had agreed to spend at least part of the morning working on a new candy experiment that hadn't exactly yielded good results so far (they had changed the formula several times, as well as other things like the oven temperature, but nothing seemed to be working). So he hauled himself off the couch, took his turn in the shower, got dressed and, since he didn't felt like eating with the Buckets (especially after what had happened at dinner the night before), fixed himself a very simple breakfast. Then he headed for the glass elevator.

By the time he reached the Chocolate Room, the confectioner was feeling anything but excited about working with Charlie. In fact, he was dreading it. Although he hadn't said anything to his apprentice, he knew that he was a big part of why their latest candy experiment kept failing. "Who am I kidding? I never make good candy when I'm down. Why did I expect this time to be any different?" he thought. Wishing he were back in his study, the candy maker walked in the direction of the Buckets' cottage. Ordinarily the Chocolate Room was very quiet and empty at that hour on a Saturday (while the Oompa Loompas worked on weekends, they started a bit later than they did on weekdays). So when Willy almost literally bumped into James, Charlie, and Grandpa Joe (they had been coming from the other direction) about halfway to the lone residence in the factory's "nerve center", he just about jumped out of his skin.

"Don't do that to me!" the candy maker exclaimed, clapping his hand to his chest. "Sorry about that. We didn't mean to startle you," Grandpa Joe apologized. While his father was speaking, James had noticed that Willy looked even more depressed than he had the night before. "Willy, I know we asked you this last night, but are you sure everything is all right?" he asked gently. Knowing that he couldn't keep hiding his issues from the Buckets, the confectioner shook his head. "Charlie, why don't you go on home? I know you and Willy were going to work, but I don't think that's the best idea at the moment. Oh, and please tell your mother that your father and I probably won't be back for awhile," Grandpa Joe told his grandson. Much to Willy's relief, Charlie didn't ask questions. He just nodded and headed off to follow Grandpa Joe's instructions.

At first, the three men didn't know quite what to say after Charlie had left. Grandpa Joe and James wanted to offer to talk to Willy, but they didn't want to seem pushy, either. And while Willy had come to realize that talking to them was what he needed right then, he didn't particularly want to do it in the Chocolate Room. He'd had enough unpleasant conversations and issues in there in recent months! "Why don't we go to the Wintergreen Room?" he suggested. "That's fine with me," James said. Grandpa Joe nodded. "All right then, follow me," Willy said as he led the way to the glass elevator.

After a ride that was over so quickly they'd barely had time to notice it (the Wintergreen Room was fairly close to the Chocolate Room), the men arrived at their destination. Once the trio was seated underneath one of the mint trees, Willy began to speak. "I've been having a lot of dreams later, bad dreams," he confessed. "What about?" James asked. Willy hesitated for a moment. He may have been ready to talk to James and Grandpa Joe, but he didn't think it would be right of him to tell them that most his dreams had involved Ronnie dying. If he was going to discuss that aspect of his dreams with anyone, he had decided, it would be with Ronnie herself. At the same time, however, he didn't want to lie to the Buckets either.

Finally the chocolatier settled for saying, "They're about Ronnie and the baby. Things going wrong during the birth and me being with the baby and not having the slightest idea how to care for her." "Basically, you're having those dreams because you're scared about all the aspects of becoming a father," Grandpa Joe said. "Leave it to Grandpa Joe!" Willy thought. He had been trying to convince himself all week long that his dreams were just coincidences, and that they didn't have anything to do with how he actually felt. Deep down, however, he had known that wasn't the case. But only now, with Grandpa Joe having spoken the truth aloud, was he able to admit it to himself. "Yes, I am. Very much so," he said.

"Willy, I'd be a little concerned if you WEREN'T nervous. This is your first time becoming a father, and it wouldn't be normal if you didn't feel at least a little bit apprehensive about it," James told his son's mentor. "I wouldn't say I'm just a little bit apprehensive. I want to be a good father, but I don't know the first thing about babies or how to take care of them!" Willy exclaimed in frustration. "I didn't know much about babies before I became a father, either," James assured him. "Same here," Grandpa Joe said. "That's not the only thing I'm nervous about, though. I don't know much more about childbirth than I do about babies, but I do know that it's usually painful for the mother. Also, I've always had kind of a weak stomach when it comes to blood and stuff, and I know there's usually a lot of that involved with giving birth, too," Willy said.

James knew what the candy maker WASN'T saying: That he hated the thought of seeing his beloved in pain and that he was scared he was going to pass out in the middle of the birth and therefore not be of much help. "If only he knew how similar I felt before Charlie was born!" he thought. "Giving birth IS usually painful, but Nora said that my being with her and helping her through things while she was having Charlie made all the difference for her," he said. "I'd LIKE to help Ronnie during the birth, but I don't know how!" Willy burst out, sounding frustrated again.

"Well, for one thing, you can hold her hand. You can also whisper words of encouragement to her, take walks with her during the early stages of labor to help ease the pain and speed things along, and even get her some water or ice or something if she wants it and the doctor says it's okay. And as for the blood, it's okay not to watch the actual birth if you don't want to. If I know Ronnie like I think I do, she'll understand completely, and she may even prefer to have you up by her head holding her hand and focusing on her face instead," James told him. "There could still be complications, though," Willy replied.

"Yes, but from what Ronnie's told us about her doctor, she should be able to handle them beautifully," James pointed out. Willy didn't say anything. He liked Sally, but her diminutive stature meant that there were limits as to what she could do for Ronnie. He wasn't even sure how she was going to deliver the baby, considering the fact he or she would be over half her size! Not to mention his fear of Ronnie's labor and delivery ending up the same way his mother's had. He didn't want to mention any of that to the Buckets, though. So he opted to change the subject. "Even if everything DOES go smoothly, I still don't know how to take care of a baby," he said.

"Do you have any books about childcare?" Grandpa Joe asked. "Yes. Ronnie and I just bought some," Willy answered him (naturally, they had ordered them online, under assumed names, and using Sylvia's address- after asking her permission first, of course- to avoid attracted any unwanted media attention!). "Then read them. You'll also learn a few things as you go, so to speak," Grandpa Joe said. "And no one is going to expect you to be perfect or even outstanding at fatherhood right away," James added. That made Willy feel a little better, but not much. And suddenly he realized that, while talking with James and Grandpa Joe had been helpful, there was someone else he needed and wanted to speak to now.

"Thanks for taking the time to talk to me, you guys. I really appreciate it," Willy said as he stood up. "Any time," Grandpa Joe said. "You're going to go talk to Ronnie now, aren't you?" James asked. Willy smirked. "Perhaps," he said. Both James and Grandpa Joe laughed. It was good to see Willy being at least somewhat his old self again. "Well, if you are, good luck!" Grandpa Joe said. James nodded his agreement. "And remember, we're always here for you if you need it," he said. "All of us, including Nora, Charlie, Josie, Georgina, and George," Grandpa Joe agreed. It was all Willy could do not to laugh at the image of him trying to have a serious conversation with Grandpa George (or even Grandma Georgina, for that matter. She was fine to talk to when she was in a lucid state, but that wasn't very often). "Thanks again," he said as he left to find his wife.

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 16 Preview: <strong>Willy and Ronnie have a good discussion about the former's fears...and Baby Wonka manages to help his or her daddy feel better!


	16. Chapter 16: Learning Curve

**Disclaimer: **You know the drill. I only own Baby Wonka!

**A/n: **Well, here's the next chapter! Not much else to say, other than as always, a big thanks to my one reviewer for the last chapter, and please keep 'em coming!

* * *

><p>"Okay, Ronnie, you can do this. Just let Willy talk about his feelings at his own pace, be willing to listen, and above all else don't be pushy!" Ronnie told her reflection. She had just arrived back at her and Willy's apartment and was standing in front of the entryway mirror, giving herself a little pep talk. She was just about to continue it when the door opened and her husband walked into their home. "Willy," she said...at the exact same time that Willy said, "Ronnie". Despite their tense states, the couple laughed.<p>

"You go first," Willy told his wife. No, you go first," Ronnie insisted. They laughed again. "We need to talk," Willy said once they'd calmed down. Ronnie could scarcely believe her ears. She had fully expected Willy to be resistant when she mentioned them needing to talk and that it would take a while for her to convince him. Not once had she imagined that HE would be the one to suggest a talk! "I was just about to say the same thing," she replied. Willy wanted to make some quip about great minds thinking alike, but he knew this probably wasn't the most appropriate time to be doing so. So instead he asked, "Should we go to the living room?" "Sounds good to me," Ronnie responded.

Willy didn't give himself a chance to hesitate. As soon as he and Ronnie were seated on the couch, he turned to his wife and confessed, "The reason I keep waking up at night is because I've been having nightmares." "I kind of wondered. Before you started sleeping your study, I heard you crying out in your sleep a few times," Ronnie said (opting not to mention that she hadn't though much of it at the time due to the fact that her husband often talked and made various noises in his sleep, and thus she had become somewhat "desensitized" to it!). "Yeah, well, I keep dreaming that you're giving birth to our baby and..." the chocolatier trailed off, still unable to bring himself to speak the horrible conclusion of his nightmares aloud. "And I die during the process," Ronnie finished for him.

The candy maker was shocked. He hadn't given his wife even the slightest clue about his nightmares, and yet she had correctly guessed how they ended. "Yes, but how did you know that?" he asked. "Because I know that's how your mother died. My mom told me today at brunch. So when you mentioned you've been having nightmares, it wasn't too hard to guess what they were about," Ronnie said gently. "Sometimes I also dream that you die after miscarrying the baby, or that I'm holding the baby, she's crying, and I don't have a clue how to comfort her. I'm scared, Ronnie. I'm scared I'm going to lose one or both of you, and that I'm going to be a lousy father," Willy admitted. Then, no longer able to hold in the emotions he had kept bottled up all week, he burst into tears.

As Ronnie watched her husband fall apart in front of her eyes, she couldn't help but be reminded of how, only four months earlier, it was she that had been the emotional wreck. Willy had comforted her and helped her through her issues, and now it was time for her to repay the favor. "It'll be all right," she said soothingly as she reached over and put her arms around the confectioner (which wasn't nearly as easy as it may seem, considering she had to accommodate her large, protruding midsection!). "I wish I could believe that," Willy managed to say through his tears. "I know you're scared, but we'll work through this," Ronnie assured him, reaching one hand up to stroke his hair.

For the next few minutes, the only sound in the room was of Willy sobbing as Ronnie continued to hold him and stroke his hair. The male half of the confectionery couple couldn't remember the last time he'd cried so hard, and for awhile he felt as though he'd never be able to stop (he also felt rather ashamed of himself, as his father had drilled into his head that "boys don't cry". Although he knew now that crying didn't make him less of a man, it was still hard for him to ignore his father's words.). But at last his tears slowed. "I didn't realize that the road to parenthood was going to be so bumpy," he said once he felt he could trust his voice again.

"Neither did I, and I don't think ANYBODY can quite imagine or anticipate how they're going to feel or react in a situation like this until it actually happens to them," Ronnie replied, her voice soft and loving. "You know, sometimes I envy you. You're so confident and sure of yourself, and I'm not. Everyone thinks I am, but as I've told Charlie, I have a hard time even admitting when I'm scared," Willy lamented, surprising both himself and Ronnie. "Willy, I'm not always confident and self-assured, either. It may seem that way, but there are times when I feel just as afraid and lost as you do right now. As a matter of fact, I've had plenty of my own panicky moments when it comes to giving birth and raising a child," Ronnie told her husband.

"YOU'RE nervous about the baby's arrival?" Willy inquired, looking at his wife in disbelief. "A little, yes. For one thing, eventually he or she is going to have to come out, and there's something rather unsettling about having to basically shove a basketball through a marble-sized hole. Not to mention the fact I know it's going to hurt, probably a lot," Ronnie said. Willy's cheeks flushed. His wife was about to go through what would probably be one of the biggest challenges her body had ever faced, and here he was worried about a little blood! Shaking his head, he pushed his feelings of embarrassment aside and put his arm around Ronnie. "I know, but you can do it. And remember, you won't be going it alone. I'll be right there with you, doing whatever I can to help," he said.

Ronnie smiled. "Knowing that definitely helps," she said, giving her husband a tender kiss. "You know, at first I didn't think I'd be able to be much help to you during the birth. After all, I don't know much about that particular subject, and I've never been much good at comforting people even in normal situations. Not that childbirth is abnormal. What I mean is..." Willy tried to say. Ronnie held up her hand and motioned for him to stop. "Willy, it's all right. I know what you mean," she assured him. Giving her a grateful look, the chocolatier continued explaining his thoughts. "So anyway, that's the bad news. The good news is that I talked to James and Grandpa Joe this morning, and they gave some suggestions of stuff I can do to hopefully make things a bit easier for you," he said.

Ronnie wasn't sure, but she thought she heard him add, "At least I can cross that off my list of worries," under his breath. Even if it had just been her imagination, he couldn't fool her. "You're worried you're not going to be able to handle the blood and other fluids involved, aren't you?" she asked. Willy nodded. "How do you manage to be so good at reading my mind?" he asked. "In this case it was pretty easy. After all, it's not exactly any secret that you're a bit squeamish when it comes to things like blood," Ronnie said gently. For the second time in less than fifteen minutes, Willy's cheeks turned red. It was true that he hadn't exactly hidden his "blood phobia" (as he liked to call it) from his wife. Opting not to address that directly, he instead confessed, "I want more than anything to witness our child's birth and support you through it, but I'm scared I'm going to end up fainting or something."

"Willy, being present for the birth doesn't mean that you have to actually watch it. When I start pushing, you can hold my hand and look into my eyes if you feel you won't be able to handle seeing what's going on down below," Ronnie assured her husband, putting her arm around him just as he had done with her a few minutes earlier. "James told me pretty much the same thing, but I just couldn't quite bring myself to believe him. All I could think was that it isn't right for our child to have a father who's such a chicken," Willy admitted. "Oh, Willy! Not watching our child come into the world won't make you a chicken. It won't make you any less of a father, either," Ronnie insisted, using the arm she had wrapped around Willy to give him a gentle squeeze. Then, with a smile, she added, "And if you want, you can be the first one of us to see the baby after he or she is born."

Willy smiled back. "I'd like that," he said. "All right then, it's settled. I'll make sure to inform Sally that she's to show the baby to you before bringing him or her over to me. In fact, I''ll tell her at my next appointment," Ronnie declared. "Sounds good to me...except for one thing. How exactly is Sally going to be able to deliver the baby, or even hold her? I mean, don't get me wrong, I like Sally and I'm confident in her abilities. I wouldn't have recommended she be your personal doctor if I didn't. But because she's an Oompa Loompa and you're a human, there ARE a few..." Willy started to say, not sure how to tactfully state the obvious. "Height issues?" Ronnie suggested. "Yeah, those. And that means that, as good of a doctor as she is, there are certain things she simply isn't physically capable of doing for you," the candy maker said.

"Like delivering a baby that's nearly as big as she is. You're right, and I can't believe I didn't think of that earlier," Ronnie replied. Willy didn't say anything, but Ronnie knew that he was thinking the same thing she was: If Sally didn't deliver the baby, then who would? "I suppose we could ask my mom and Nora for advice. I doubt either of them had our issue while they were pregnant, but they usually have good ideas and ought to at least be able to point us in the right direction, so to speak," Ronnie finally said. Willy nodded. "That's probably the best solution at the moment," he agreed. Ronnie couldn't help but notice, however, that her husband's nervousness didn't appear to have been eased by their decision. If anything, he looked MORE nervous than before. And she had a pretty good idea what was behind that nervousness.

"Willy, so far we've been talking about you being anxious about the birth, but I get the feeling you're just as anxious about becoming a father," she commented. "You're right about that. In order to be a good father to this baby, I need to know how to care for her, and I don't. I don't know how to comfort her when she cries, or how to change a diaper, or anything! Plus, newborns are so little and fragile...and I have exactly zero experience with holding one. What if I drop her or something? " Willy fretted. "First of all, I doubt very much that you're going to drop the baby. And second of all, I don't know that much about taking care of babies, either. I baby-sat a little as a teenager, but that was mostly for older kids, and the youngest baby I took care of was probably around ten months old or so. So I don't have much experience with infants, either. But that's what those parenting books we got are for. We'll learn some stuff by studying them, and others by trial and error," Ronnie told him.

"That's what Grandpa Joe told me. But I just don't know. I mean, we're talking about a PERSON here. A tiny, helpless person who's going to be completely dependent on us for her health, safety, and happiness. Look at it this way: I created, or rather helped create, this baby, just as I've created several candies over the years. But if I mess up with this creation, I can't just go back and try different ingredients or whatever!" Willy exclaimed, tears once again filling his eyes. Ronnie couldn't help but feel a bit teary herself. Just a few hours earlier, she had been almost convinced that her husband no longer cared about their baby-to-be. Now he was showing her that that couldn't be farther from the truth.

Wrapping her arm around the chocolatier's shoulders once again, she said, "Parenting is going to be a learning process for both of us, and we probably WILL make some mistakes along the way. It's pretty doubtful, however, that those mistakes are going to scar our child for life. And as far as I'm concerned, you've already proven yourself to be an excellent father." "How?" Willy asked, not at all convinced. "By how attentive you've been to both me and the baby throughout the pregnancy. Before all of this happened, you could barely keep your hands or your lips off my belly. Not to mention all the time you spent talking to the baby. Willy, you're one of the most involved fathers I know...and our baby hasn't even been born yet!" Ronnie explained.

Sighing, Willy rested his hand on his wife's abdomen. Rubbing it gently, he addressed his unborn child. "Your mommy has a point. I probably AM being a little too much of a worrywart about being a good daddy to you. But I just..." the candy maker stopped abruptly. As he had been talking, he had felt it, a soft but unmistakable thumping against his hand. A thumping that could have come from only one source. "I felt her kick! I felt her kick!" the confectioner announced, his voice full of emotion. Then, before he could stop them, the tears that were in his eyes spilled onto his cheeks.

Ronnie gazed lovingly at her husband, her cheeks every bit as moist as his were. Hearing Willy talk to the baby again had been heartwarming enough, but seeing him finally smile again and knowing their child was the cause of it was almost too much for her. Just as she was about to comment on knowing how badly he'd been yearning to feel those tiny, precious stirrings within her, Willy put his hand back on her stomach. "I should have known you were going to wait until just the right moment to kick me for the first time. You knew your mommy needed a little help knocking some sense into me, didn't you?" Willy crooned to the baby.

What happened next was like something out of a cartoon or a bad comedy. It started out innocently enough, with Willy leaning over and planting a kiss on Ronnie's belly. Before he had a chance to finish his display of affection, however, he let out a slight gasp and reeled back. "You little rascal, you got me right in the mouth!" he scolded the baby. "Are you all right?" Ronnie asked, just barely managing to refrain from laughing (the situation may have been unpleasant for her husband, but to her it was rather funny!). "Yeah, I'm fine. It wasn't the most pleasant sensation in the world, but it didn't really hurt that much. After all, our baby may be strong but she's still tiny, so she can't do THAT much damage. Mostly she just took me by surprise," Willy replied.

"In other words, you weren't exactly expecting your first time feeling the baby to be so eventful," Ronnie chuckled. "You can say that again! I had no idea that our little one was so mischievous already!" Willy laughed. "Just like someone else I know," Ronnie teased, her blue eyes twinkling. "You mean like someone else _I _know," Willy playfully retorted, just before pressing his lips to his wife's. "You know, in hindsight I'm actually not all that surprised you got kicked in the mouth," Ronnie said once they had finished their kiss. "Why?" Willy asked, sounding confused. "Because you had just talked to the baby, and your voice always makes him or her kick," Ronnie explained.

Willy beamed. "Really? My voice really makes her kick?" he asked. Ronnie grinned at her husband's enthusiasm. "Really and truly. Your voice is the only one that does that, too. The baby doesn't even kick at the sound of MY voice," she told him. In response, the chocolatier gave his wife's belly another kiss . "Oh, my little gumdrop! I love you so much and I can't wait to meet you!" Willy gushed (having wisely waited until his mouth was safely out of range!). Considering what the candy maker had done the other two times he'd talked to the baby, Ronnie fully expected him to follow the "conversation" by putting his hand on her protruding abdomen. But he didn't. Instead, he slid off the couch, got on his knees in front of the mother of his child, and rested his head against it.

For the next several minutes, both Willy and Ronnie were quiet. Willy was quiet because, from what Ronnie could see, he was quite intently listening to the activity going on in her belly (although, with the baby's kicks having ceased for the moment and he or she seemingly rested, she was a bit perplexed as to what that activity was!). And Ronnie was quiet because she was watching him. As far as she was concerned, the only thing more heart-warming than what her husband was doing was the fact that his joy and pride about the baby had returned so quickly.

The couple remained still and quiet for so long that they started to feel sleepy. Before either of them could actually doze off, though, Ronnie realized that it wasn't just her mind that was tired. "Willy, I hate to take you away from your bonding time with the baby, but my legs are falling asleep," she whispered (not wanting to break the "spell" by talking loudly). Without hesitating, Willy removed his head from her stomach and stood up...only to stumble and fall back to the floor in a rather undignified manner. "Apparently my legs are a little sleepy, too," he said sheepishly. "It's lucky we're in a room with a carpet!" Ronnie thought as she slid off the couch and onto the floor (considering how numb her legs were and what had just happened to Willy, she didn't trust her ability to stand without falling).

"I can't believe I just did that!" the candy maker exclaimed before his wife could ask if he was all right. "Don't feel bad. It could have just as easily been me," Ronnie assured her husband, reaching over and giving him a hug. Much to her dismay, her back picked that moment to complain. It was starting to feel the strain now that the baby was getting bigger, and sitting ram-rod straight for who knows how long while Willy had his "moment" with the baby had only made it worse. "OW!" she complained. "What's wrong?" Willy asked. "I have a backache," Ronnie groaned. To her surprise, the confectioner smiled. "I know how to fix that," he said.

"How?" Ronnie inquired. "First take your shirt off," Willy instructed. Ronnie raised her eyebrows. "Just what exactly does he have in mind?" she wondered to herself as she did as the chocolatier said. "Okay, the next step is to remove that bra," Willy continued, reaching up and unclipping the aforementioned article of clothing before removing it from his wife's upper torso and setting it aside. "Now what?" Ronnie asked. "Now lie down," Willy told her. "I think I'm beginning to get the picture," Ronnie thought, a smile tugging at her lips as she followed instructions yet again.

Sure enough, no sooner had she lain down (on her side, naturally, since the baby wouldn't allow too many other positions) than she felt the wonderful, soothing sensation of her husband's hands massaging her back."Oh, that feels so good!" she moaned. "I had a hunch you'd like it," Willy said. Then he broached a different topic entirely. "I don't think I've ever told you this, but pregnancy really suits you," he said. "Pregnancy suits me?" Ronnie parroted, sounding a bit confused. "Yeah. You were beautiful before, but carrying and nurturing our child has made you positively radiant. Every time I see you, I think of that little life growing inside you, the life that we created together, and I feel so much love for both of you that I think I just might explode," Willy explained. Ronnie let him know what she thought of that almost before he finished speaking...by turning her head and capturing his lips with hers.

* * *

><p><strong>An: **So just what DID Willy hear from within Ronnie's belly, you're probably wondering? All I'll say is that it will be addressed soon, so stay tuned! :)

**Chapter 17 Preview: **It is now May, and with only two months to go until Baby Wonka's arrival, Willy prepares a special surprise for his wife. Meanwhile, the rest of the "factory family" has a little surprise of their own...for BOTH the Wonkas!


	17. Chapter 17: Celebration Sunday

**Disclaimer: **Baby Wonka belongs to me...you know the rest! :)

**A/n: **After finishing this chapter in a marathon writing session that lasted for the better part of a day, I don't really know what to say by way of an introduction. So I hope you enjoy this chapter, and as always, a big thank you to my one reviewer for the last chapter! This should go without saying by now, but I love reviews, so please keep 'em coming!

* * *

><p>"What a weird dream!" Ronnie said to herself as she woke up. It was the second Sunday in May, nearly a month after she and Willy had had their good talk, and things between the duo were better than ever. Willy's nightmares had pretty much stopped (he still had them occasionally), and he had moved back into the bedroom. In addition, he and Ronnie had spoken to Nora and Sylvia about the issue of Sally's size preventing her from catching the baby. The two women had immediately come up with a solution that the confectionery couple couldn't believe they hadn't thought of: They would attend the birth and help out with the aspects that were difficult or impossible for Sally to do...including ushering the baby into the world (Sally, luckily, was just as enthusiastic as the others were about the plan, and gave it the green light right away).<p>

Nora and Sylvia, along with Sally, had also suggested that Willy and Ronnie do some studying about childbirth together. Since it was important to both halves of the couple that Willy be as involved with the birth as possible, they had chosen a few books and videos with a strong emphasis on a father's role in delivery for their "assignment". They hadn't yet gone through them all, but Willy was already feeling better about their child's impending arrival (he had even managed to watch a few of the births depicted in the videos, but he still wasn't sure he'd be able to watch Ronnie do so. After all, a random stranger giving birth was a lot different than his wife giving birth!).

The books and videos had also been a big help to Ronnie. Now that she was armed with various methods for approaching labor (everything from pain management techniques to tips on how to minimize stress to her and the baby during the actual delivery), she felt a lot less nervous about the major task facing her. Mostly, however, she was just happy that Willy was acting like himself again. This, of course, included his excitement about fatherhood...which, if anything, had actually increased since his panic attack. He had "kickversations" (which consisted of him talking and the baby kicking, hence the term he'd invented to describe them) with the baby every chance he got. He also listened to him or her quiet a bit, particularly during "quieter" moments (such as when he and Ronnie were watching a movie or had just gone to bed).

All of that, plus the fact that Sunday was her favorite day of the week (this was because Sunday was the one day of the week that Willy didn't work...which, of course, meant that he and Ronnie could spend as much time together as they wanted!), meant that Ronnie was in a great mood on that May morning. "Bonjour, mon bonbon homme!" she exclaimed cheerfully. To her great surprise, the response wasn't the expected "Bonjour, ma cherie!" but a shout, coming from the direction of the kitchen, of "Hornswagglers, whangdoodles, and vermicious knids!"

Ronnie laughed. That shout had made two things very clear to her: One, that she had just greeted thin air, and two, that her husband was scolding either some sort of food or an appliance for being so rude as to not cooperate with him. "Mr. Subtle, as always!" she giggled. Most of the time, Willy was fairly easy-going, and didn't mind much when things didn't go the way he'd like them to. When it came to preparing food, however, he was a bit of a perfectionist (actually, that might have been putting it mildly!). So when he messed up in the kitchen (or the Inventing Room, for that matter), all bets were off!

Still giggling a bit, Ronnie sat up and swung her legs over the side of the bed (well, swinging may have been a bit of an exaggeration, considering that her large abdomen made it a bit tricky to maneuver!) Willy getting up early to make breakfast was extremely unusual (normally, the couple ate their morning meal with the Buckets. And on the rare occasions they didn't, they generally stuck to simple things, such as oatmeal or cold cereal), and her curiosity was piqued. She planned to head to the kitchen to see what Willy was making, just as she had on Valentine's Day. But before she could even so much as stand up, she saw a note propped on her night-table.

It read: _"Bonjour, ma cherie! I am working on a top-secret project in the kitchen, so stay out! Please wait for me in here. Je t'aime, ma douce!" _Ronnie smiled. "Leave it to Willy to find a way to make a note warning me to stay out of the kitchen romantic!" she thought as she folded the note carefully and placed it in her night-table drawer. Still smiling, she lay back in bed to wait for the chocolatier. "I wonder what he has up his sleeve this time?" she mused. She didn't have to ponder that for long. Not even two minutes later, the door opened and her husband walked in, carrying a bed tray topped with food, a candy flower in a vase, and an envelope.

"Happy Mother's Day!" the beaming confectioner sang out, placing the bed tray over his wife's lap (which was no easy task, considering her ballooning belly. Even with the tray's legs fully extended, it was a tight squeeze!). Ronnie was too surprised to say anything. She had known that Sunday was Mother's Day, and had even invited Sylvia to come over for supper that evening to celebrate. But as she herself wasn't yet officially a mother, it had never occurred to her that Willy might do something special for her, let alone serve her breakfast in bed!

Still unsure of what to say, she picked up the envelope, which was labeled "Mommy". Grinning at her husband, she tore it open and pulled out a card. The front read: _"Some mommies are young, Some mommies are old. Some mommies are short, Some mommies are tall. And MY mommy..." _Ronnie quickly flipped the card open and read what it said on the inside: _"Is the best of them all! Happy Mother's Day! Love, your little kickmeister."_ ("Kickmeister", naturally, was a new nickname Willy and Ronnie had come up with for their baby!) By the time time Ronnie had finished reading the card and set it down, her eyes were brimming with tears. And when she took a good look at the breakfast Willy had prepared for her, they wasted no time spilling over.

It was a fairly simple breakfast, but it was one of her all-time favorites: Strawberry-filled crepes with eggs and breakfast potatoes. Her husband had even included a candy buttercup filled with honey and buttermilk tea, her favorite beverage."Oh, Willy, this is wonderful!" she breathed, barely able to keep her voice under control. "I'm glad you like it," the confectioner replied, smiling tenderly at his wife. "I don't like it, Willy. I love it!" Ronnie told him. Instead of immediately replying, the candy maker climbed into bed, snuggled up to her, and gave her a soft kiss. "And I love you," he said.

Ronnie sighed with contentment as she began eating her breakfast. She couldn't think of too many things better than spending a Sunday morning cuddling in bed with her husband, eating the delectable meal he had so lovingly prepared while their unborn child snoozed in her abdomen. "This is delicious!" she proclaimed. Then, a mischievous gleam coming into her eyes, she picked up her fork, speared a piece of crepe, and popped it into Willy's mouth! "You're right, it is. My compliments to the chef!" the candy maker said in mock seriousness. "Willy, you are something else!" Ronnie laughed.

"I'm only stating a fact," the chocolatier replied. His wife laughed even harder. "You don't have to be so modest about it," she teased him. "And here I was thinking I was the most humble person you knew!" Willy exclaimed with exaggerated feigned shock. Well, that did it. Ronnie practically roared with laughter, and the confectioner joined her. After laughing themselves silly for a few minutes, the sudden gentle jiggling of Ronnie's tray and the items on it (along with her feeling a familiar sensation in her midsection!) alerted them to the fact that they may have gotten just a little bit carried away.

"I think we just woke someone up!" Ronnie said, smiling down at her belly. "And you're not happy we disturbed your sleep, are you?" Willy asked the baby, his voice soft and tender. The littlest Wonka responded by kicking even harder. Naturally, this meant that the tray's movement also increased. Most of the items on it simply slid around as if they were on ice, but not the candy buttercup. Taking the brunt of the kicks, it fell over, spilling its contents. Most of the honey and buttermilk tea (which, thankfully, was room-temperature rather than a traditional hot tea!) landed on the tray and soaked what was left of Ronnie's breakfast, but a little ended up on the expectant mother as well.

"It appears that we've already got a trouble-maker on our hands!" Ronnie chuckled. "Yeah, but it's not our little gumdrop, it's her father. If I hadn't been stupid enough to talk to her while you had a tray full of food and drink on your lap, she never would have kicked your cup over," Willy muttered, his cheeks beet red as he grabbed some kleenex from the box on his night-table to mop up the mess. "Willy, it's okay. It was an accident. And frankly, as active as the baby's been lately, I'm surprised something like this hasn't happened before," Ronnie assured him. Willy couldn't help but laugh. "It IS rather entertaining to watch all the shows she puts on for us," he admitted (now that Ronnie was in her seventh month, the couple was able to see several of his or her movements in addition to feeling them).

"You know, we really ought to start thinking of a name for our little one," Ronnie commented once the tray had been cleaned off and set aside (and she'd dried the tea-soaked part of her nightgown off as best she could). "You mean you don't think Gumdrop or Kickmeister are suitable?" Willy joked. "Not unless we want a child that's going to hate us when he or she is older!" Ronnie playfully retorted. "Well, I'd like something that's somewhat unique, but still easy to spell and pronounce," Willy said, growing serious. "I'd rather our child not have a super-common name, either. I rather liked being the only Veronica in our class," Ronnie agreed. "I'd also prefer a name that doesn't have a nickname that's more commonly associated with another name. I don't know how many times I've had to explain to people that my given name is not William, and it gets annoying after awhile," the chocolatier put in.

"That makes sense to me. It would be kind of nice to somehow honor my father and your mother with the name, too," Ronnie said. "I feel the same way. 'Henry' is a relatively common name, though," Willy pointed out. "And considering that your name is the masculine form of it, things might get a bit confusing if we named a daughter 'Wilhelmina'," Ronnie concurred. "I guess we could use their middle names," Willy mused. "Wait a minute! Why don't we have their names be the BABY's middle name?" Ronnie suggested. "That's a great idea! In fact, why don't we give our baby TWO middle names? If it's a boy, his middle names can be Henry and Walsh, and if it's a girl, her middle names can be Wilhelmina and Wells," Willy said, his voice full of enthusiasm.

"Willy, that's brilliant! That way, not only will they both be honored, but either my or your mother's maiden name will get passed on!" Ronnie exclaimed. "Thanks, but I don't think you should be praising me just yet. The middle names were the easy part. Now we need to come up with a first name," Willy insisted. "We'll think of..." before Ronnie could finish her sentence, her WonkaPhone began to ring. And just as she was pressing the button to answer it, so did her husband's. Once they had hung up, they looked at each other, each silently asking what the other's call had been about. "That was Charlie. He says that the Chocolate River is flooding, so I need to get to the Chocolate Room immediately," Willy said. Ronnie looked confused. "That's odd. It was Nora who called me, and she was inviting me to a special Mother's Day tea, which she says she's invited my mother to as well. Seems strange she'd be wanting to have tea in the middle of a flood!" she told her husband. Now it was Willy's turn to look bewildered. "I suppose we'd better head down there and see what the real situation is," he said. Ronnie nodded her agreement and, after hurriedly dressing, the duo headed for the glass elevator.

**WWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW**

As far as the couple was concerned, they couldn't get to the Chocolate Room fast enough. If indeed the Chocolate River was flooding, they knew that the longer it took them to get to the factory's nerve center, the worse the damage would be. "Come on? Can't you go any faster?" Willy asked the elevator, frantically jabbing at the button for the Chocolate Room. Ronnie just shook her head. She was just as concerned about the prospect of a flood as her husband, but she knew that banging on the elevator button wasn't about to accomplish anything (other than perhaps making Willy even more frustrated!). Before she could ponder the chocolatier's actions any further, however, the elevator arrived at its destination. And what she and Willy saw made all thoughts of flooding fly right out of their heads.

There, standing in front of them, were their parents, the Buckets, and every last member of the Oompa Loompa tribe...the entire "factory family"! But perhaps even more surprising than WHO was in the Chocolate Room was WHAT was in it. Several tables were set up, including one that was covered with an array of food and another that was topped with a pile of gifts. Some of the tables had pink table clothes while others had blue ones, and all of them had a "bouquet" of pink and blue balloons in the center. The walls weren't lacking for decorations, either. Pink and blue crepe paper had been hung from them, along with a banner that read, "Congratulations Willy and Ronnie: Proud Parents-to-Be!"

"Surprise!" shouted the Wonkas' welcoming committee. Neither Ronnie nor Willy knew quite what to say. While Ronnie had figured there was probably a baby shower in her future, she had assumed it would be a fairly informal event, with her opening gifts as she, Nora, Sylvia, the Bucket women, and maybe Ash (as a representative of the Oompa Loompa women) had tea or brunch or something. Willy, meanwhile, hadn't given much thought to the idea of a shower at all (after all, they were usually primarily a "ladies'" thing!). So the fact that the entire factory, had come together to throw a celebration for them was quite unexpected (not to mention rather touching!).

Ronnie was the first to find her voice. "This certainly IS a surprise, and a lovely one!" she gushed. Willy nodded in agreement. "Our little one couldn't have asked for a better extended family, that's for sure," he said, giving his wife's belly a gentle squeeze. "I'm glad you're so happy. There were several moments where we weren't sure we were going to be able to pull this off," Sylvia said. "What she means is, it's a miracle we all kept it a secret!" Nora joked. "It was definitely worth it, though," Charlie (who was extremely relieved that his mentor didn't seem angry at him for having lied about the Chocolate River flooding!) chimed in.

Much to the youngest Bucket's mortification, the next contribution to the conversation came from his stomach, in the form of a loud growl. "Sorry," he said sheepishly. "No need to apologize, Charlie. It IS lunchtime after all," Nora assured her son. "That's right, and we didn't put food out just for decoration," Grandpa Joe quipped. "On that note, let's eat!" Sylvia declared. The guests of honor were given the privilege of dishing up first, of course, and as they approached the food table they noticed for the first time that the food had a theme. There were baby carrots, baby corn, baby squash, bite-sized cubes of ham, cream-puff sized dinner rolls, and a whole host of other "baby" or miniature foods (including miniature Wonka bars!). "What a clever idea!" Ronnie exclaimed. "We thought so," Sylvia said with a grin.

**WWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW**

Within less than a half hour, the food table had gone from practically overflowing to all but empty, and the shower guests had gone from starving to absolutely stuffed. In order to allow everyone time to digest, Sylvia and Nora (who were sharing unofficial hosting duties for the shower) had announced that the next "activity" would be "social hour". Like with most large gatherings, the women had congregated in one area to chat while the men gathered in another. And while most of both groups had opted to remain at the tables, Willy and James had chosen a more scenic location: the banks of the Chocolate River.

"So, how have things been going lately?" Charlie's father asked his son's mentor. The chocolatier knew exactly what he was referring to. "Much better for the most part. The books and videos have been really helpful. I still don't know whether I'm going to be able to watch the birth, though. I've gotten through the births depicted in the videos okay, but I think that's mainly because I don't know the women," Willy replied. "I know what you mean. It's a little easier to watch someone go through a somewhat rough time when you have no emotional connection to them," James said. Willy nodded. "I also, and I know this is probably a bit selfish, worry that if I watch the birth, I'm never going to be able to look at Ronnie the same way again, if you know what I mean," he confessed.

"That's perfectly normal. I thought the same thing when Nora was pregnant. My friends didn't help matters, either. They kept telling me things like 'You're not going to want to touch her for a LONG time afterward!'," James remarked. "So what happened?" Willy asked, sounding more anxious than ever. James smiled. "I DID look at Nora differently after she had Charlie. I looked at her as someone that I admired and found even more beautiful than before. And as to whether or not I didn't want to touch her for a long time, let's just say that it took a couple months before she appreciated my advances!" he explained. Willy couldn't help but laugh. "Maybe there's hope for me after all!" he quipped.

**WWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW**

Not long after Willy and James finished their conversation and headed back to the tables, Nora cupped her hands over her mouth and loudly announced, "Okay, everyone! Depending on our guests of honor's wishes, it's either time for gift-opening or dessert". "Gift-opening sounds good to me. I'm not super-full anymore, but I'd rather wait a little bit long for dessert so that I can really enjoy it," Ronnie said. "Same here," her husband agreed. "Okay, then, this way," Sylvia said as she led the couple to the two chairs set up near the gift table.

After a quick whispered conference with Willy about how they should approach unwrapping and displaying their gifts, Ronnie picked up the first package, read the tag, and opened it, revealing a pale yellow hand-knit blanket. "This is absolutely darling! Thank you, Grandma Josephine!" she exclaimed. Willy opened the next gift, which was a pair of hand-knit booties (which were yellow to match the blanket) from Grandma Georgina. The third gift was from Nora, and it was a yellow hat and sleeper to complete the hand-knit layette.

It was followed by a wooden rattle shaped and designed to look like a Wonka Bar from James (who was quite accomplished at carpentry), a set of pacifiers from Grandpa George (which Willy and Ronnie could barely refrain from chuckling at. They had the distinct impression that Grandpa George had selected that gift primarily in the hopes that it would prevent him from being subjected to a screaming baby!), a baby monitor from Grandpa Joe, and a board book entitled "Baby's First Guide to Chocolate" from Charlie.

Sylvia's gift was a set of "bath and body essentials" (which included baby shampoo, baby lotion, baby oil, baby powder, and baby soap), while Dr. Wonka's was an infant toothbrush (it was, he insisted, "never too early" to start good dental habits!). Then Oaklie and Ash, who had quietly slipped away from the party, wheeled in the Oompa Loompa tribe's gift: a cocoa bean pod-shaped cradle! Willy and Ronnie were touched by it (especially Willy, who happened to know that it was a tribal tradition for all Oompa Loompa babies to receive a cradle like that), but not as much as they were by the final gift. It was from the whole group, and was a set of two books. One was a baby book, and the other was a parenting handbook entitled, "Help! Our Baby's Almost Here: Tips and Tricks for New Parents". It was written and illustrated by "Your Factory Family".

"Oh, you guys! You didn't have to do this!" Ronnie exclaimed, tears of happiness sparkling in her eyes. "Oh yes we did. We know you each have concerns about the path to parenthood, and we figured there was no one better to guide you than us," Sylvia insisted. "It's got just about everything you can think of in there, too. Everything from how to survive labor and delivery to how cope with middle-of-the-night feedings. We also, except for Charlie, each shared a funny story or two about our experiences as new parents, to show the lighter side of life with a newborn," Nora added. "Well, we really appreciate it. It's just what we needed, and I intend to start reading it as soon as Ronnie and I get back to the apartment," Willy said.

"Probably because you can't wait to read what my mom wrote about me in the funny stories section!" Ronnie teased him. "Now what in the world would make you think that?" her husband asked playfully, an exaggerated look of innocence on his face. Ronnie didn't have a chance to respond...because Sylvia and Nora had just rolled out a scrumptious-looking cake. It was frosted white, with images of sleeping babies (some wrapped in pink blankets, others in blue) drawn on it with icing. And in the center were written (also in icing, naturally) the words, "Cheer, Cheer! Baby Wonka Will Soon be Here!" Willy and Ronnie were reluctant to cut Sylvia's work of art (naturally it had been she that had made the cake!) but finally they did and everyone took a slice. "Here's to lots of joy and happiness for Willy and Ronnie as they become parents for the first time!" Nora announced, holding hers up. "To joy and happiness for the parents-to-be!" everyone else chorused.

* * *

><p><strong>An: **When Willy told Ronnie "Je t'aime, ma douce," in his note, he was saying somthing rather endearing in French: "I love you, my sweet". :)

**Chapter 18 Preview: **With Ronnie's pregnancy in the final stretch (she's now in her 8th month!), Baby Wonka decides to get a little mischievious. And we finally find out just what it is that Willy hears when he listens to his wife's belly!


	18. Chapter 18: Midnight Musings

**Disclaimer: **At this point it should pretty much go without saying: I only own Baby Wonka!

**A/n: **Well, here you go, another chapter less than a month after I posted the previous one! It's a bit shorter than most of the others, but I think it's good anyway. Hopefully you guys feel the same. Now, I know what you're thinking. I'm going to end this author's note by thanking my one reviewer for the last chapter. Well, I'm not...because, to my surprise and delight, I had TWO reviewers for the last chapter! Thanks so much to both of you, it really means a lot to me. As always, please keep those reviews coming! :)

* * *

><p>In contrast to the relatively calm, quiet month leading up to the baby shower, the month following it was a busy and somewhat hectic one for the Wonkas. With less than two months left until they entered into parenthood, the couple had thrown themselves into finalizing preparations for their child's arrival. Not the least of these was moving Willy's study to the dining room (which they rarely ever used anyway, preferring to eat in the kitchen) and converting the old study into a nursery. This, as you might imagine, was no small task. Several renovations (including, among other things, covering the hard-wood floor in the old studynursery, installing shelves in the dining room/new study to accommodate Willy's many books, and painting the walls of both rooms) needed to done to ready the rooms for their new purposes.

Before they could begin, however, the rooms needed to be completely emptied out. This meant that, by early June, the apartment looked as though a tornado had ripped through it. Furniture was stacked in odd places, counters and other flat surfaces were serving as bookshelves, and items for the nursery (still unassembled and in their boxes) had taken over the Wonkas' bedroom. Because of this and the fact that it's not advisable for pregnant women (or anyone else, for that matter!) to be around paint fumes and other products of construction, the couple had opted to re-locate for the duration of the project.

While you might think that Willy and Ronnie would have chosen Dessert Island as their temporary headquarters, they had instead selected another part of the factory that was quite meaningful to them: the Strawberry Bedroom. Ronnie had spent the night after her and Willy's first date (having been stranded- very happily so!- at the factory overnight after a blizzard had come up suddenly), the night before their wedding, and a few nights in between there (she and Willy, needless to say, hadn't thought it proper to share the same room, let alone the same bed, before marriage!), making it her first "home" in the factory. So to her and her husband, it had seemed the logical place to spend part of their final weeks as a twosome!

It had also seemed like a logical place for an early joint birthday/wedding anniversary celebration. All three were in July (Willy's birthday was on the 16th, Ronnie's was on the 22nd, and their anniversary was on the 25th), the same month they were due to become parents. Therefore, they figured that if they didn't celebrate early, they'd probably end up being too exhausted to celebrate at all! But although the couple had opted to celebrate all three occasions early, they weren't doing so in the traditional way, with presents and so forth.

Instead, they were treating their time in the Strawberry Bedroom as a second honeymoon. A camping-themed second honeymoon, to be exact. They cooked their meals, which consisted of things like hot dogs and beans, on a portable camp stove, made s'mores (using the stove to toast the marshmallows), used candles as their light source at night (except for middle-of-the-night bathroom trips, during which they used flashlights instead for safety reasons), and "disconnected" from technology (having instructed the Buckets and the Oompa Loompas to call them on the WonkaPhone only if there was an emergency).

Their favorite activity, however, was their non camp-themed evening ritual: Taking a relaxing soak together (which often, as you can probably imagine, led to less-than-innocent behavior!) in the large, strawberry-shaped jacuzzi that was the bathroom's most prominent feature. The baths were especially soothing and relaxing to Ronnie, whose back and hips often ached from the strain of carrying and supporting an almost fully-developed baby. Soaking in the jacuzzi helped to ease those aches, as did the massages her husband often gave her afterwards.

Most of the time, the chocolatier performed the massages "dry" using only his hands, but occasionally he treated his wife even further by using a special oil he had created. It's main ingredient was what Willy called "chocomint" a mixture of peppermint oil and a special "chocolate oil" that the candy maker used to infuse various things with the smell of the product he was most famous for. The combination of these scents, the refreshing coolness of the oil on her back, and her husband's skilled hands was like heaven on Earth to Ronnie. She found it so relaxing, in fact, that she often fell asleep in the middle of the massage!

Unfortunately, the snoozes were often far too short for the increasingly weary mother-to-be's taste. She generally only slept, massage-induced or not, for a few hours at a stretch. Usually this was due to the baby putting pressure on her bladder or needing to switch positions (which, needless to say, was now extremely difficult to accomplish when she was awake, and just about impossible in her sleep!). On the night of June 10th, however, she woke for what at first seemed to be no reason at all. She didn't feel the need to re-position herself, and for once the baby had decided not to make her sprint for the bathroom. Then, before she even had time to wonder what HAD woken her up, she felt a cramping sensation in her abdomen.

Had she not been pregnant, she probably would have just assumed that the cramping meant her "monthly curse" was on its way and dismissed it. But since she WAS with child (and therefore it was impossible for the cramping to be PMS-related), she found it quite concerning. "Okay, Ronnie, calm down. For all you know, that was just a one-off that wasn't related to the pregnancy at all. Considering it woke you up, you could easily have just imagined it, too," the female Wonka told herself. She was able to take comfort in that knowledge for about five seconds...the amount of time it took for the uncomfortable sensation in her midsection to return, proving her theory false.

For several long minutes, the expectant mother lay in bed, willing the cramps to stop. But they didn't. And Ronnie knew that at this stage of pregnancy, there was pretty much only one possible explanation for her discomfort. Panic rising within her, she reached over and gently shook her husband. "Willy, wake up! I think the baby's trying to come!" she cried frantically. The chocolatier usually needed quite a bit of time to fully wake up, but not that night. "Now? But you're not due for another month!" he pointed out, hurriedly sitting up. "You know that and I know that, but apparently our little kickmeister doesn't," Ronnie said, sounding both anxious and exasperated.

Willy put his arm around her. "It's going to be okay, buttercup. It might be nothing, and even if worse comes to worse and the baby DOES end up being born now, she's developed enough now that she should do just fine. Either way, I'm going to go ahead and call Sally. She can tell us what to do next, " he said soothingly, using his free hand to search his night-table for his WonkaPhone. "Good. I suppose I'd better fill you in on exactly I'm experiencing first, though," Ronnie told him. "I have a better idea. I'll put the WonkaPhone on speaker mode so we can both talk to her," the confectioner said as he dialed his wife's doctor.

Much to Ronnie's relief, Sally answered the phone quickly. "Hello, Mr. Wonka," she greeted the chocolatier groggily (like all WonkaPhones, Sally's featured caller ID). "Hi, Sally. This is actually BOTH Willy and Ronnie, and we're calling because we're pretty sure Ronnie just went into labor," Willy told the doctor. "I woke up around forty-five minutes or so ago with PMS-like cramping, and since then it's continued off and on," Ronnie explained. "How far apart are the cramps? And are they coming in regular intervals?" Sally asked. "Ten minutes is about the longest that goes by between them, and I'd say they're coming in semi-regular intervals," Ronnie replied.

"In that case, I don't think you need to worry too much, Mrs. Wonka. From what you've described, it sounds like you are most likely experiencing braxton-hicks contractions rather than true labor," Sally said, a smile evident in her voice. "You mean I got you out of bed over a false alarm?" Ronnie asked, her cheeks bright red. "I'm pretty sure, yes. But please don't feel bad about it. With this being your first pregnancy, there's no way you could have possibly know that what you were experiencing was false labor," Sally assured her. "Still, I feel so stupid!" Ronnie explained.

"Mrs. Wonka, I'd much rather you call me when you're unsure about having gone into labor and have it turn out to be nothing than wait and have the baby end up arriving prematurely," Sally insisted. "We may have established that this is more than likely false labor, but I think Ronnie's still having the cramps. Any tips on how to ease them?" Willy inquired. Ronnie gave her husband a grateful smile. She knew he'd only asked that question in order to take the focus off her mistake. "Well, sometimes just changing position can help, as can a glass of warm milk or walking. They should stop fairly soon regardless, though. If they don't, or if they start to become stronger, more regular, or closer together, please check in with me again," Sally said.

"We will do that. Thanks for all your help," Willy responded. "As we're always telling you, we really do appreciate everything you do. I can't stress how true that is in this instance in particular, considering you had to get out of bed for what turned out to be pretty much nothing," Ronnie added. "It was no trouble at all, Mrs. Wonka. Your baby's well-being is far more important than me getting a full-night's sleep," Sally said firmly. "Well, thanks again, and we'll talk to you later," Willy said as he prepared to hang up. "Hopefully not until my next appointment, though!" Ronnie quipped, causing the call to end with the trio laughing.

About two seconds later, the Wonkas inadvertently gave themselves another reason to laugh...by letting out simultaneous sighs of relief! "I was just about to say that you have no idea how glad I am that our little gumdrop isn't trying to make an early entrance after all, but it seems as though you've just proved me wrong!" Willy chuckled. "It definitely would appear that way," his wife laughed. Then, her eyes taking on that happy, mischievous gleam he loved so much, she asked, "You know what I'd really like to do right now?" "Go for a walk to hopefully ease your cramps?" the confectioner suggested.

"Yes, but I'd like it to be to a specific place," Ronnie replied, a playful, teasing tone to her voice. "Hmm...let me think. The Square Candies Room?" Willy joked. "Willy, you know darn well that isn't it!" Ronnie giggled, playfully tossing her pillow at him. "Really? I thought you loved that room" Willy teased, throwing the pillow back (as you can probably guess, the Square Candies Room was, in fact, one of Ronnie's LEAST favorite rooms in the factory...mostly because, for some bizarre reason, the impish candies seemed to be at their worst whenever she was present!).

"Okay, since I'm feeling generous I'll give you a hint: you might say that the very essence of the factory 'flows' through the room I want to go to," Ronnie said, now wearing a playful grin to match the twinkle in her eyes. "It couldn't possibly be the Chocolate Room, could it?" Willy asked in mock seriousness, his expression matching his wife's. "Well, I don't know of any other room that matches the description in my hint," Ronnie responded, her grin looking even more mischievous than before. "I'll take that as a yes," her husband said, just before leaning over and planting a soft, tender kiss on her lips.

**WWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW**

"How are you feeling now, my fudgemallow delight?" Willy asked once the couple had reached the factory's nerve center. "Fine, the cramps are gone. You might want to take it easy on the candy terminology, though. You're going to get the baby craving chocolate!" Ronnie told him, smiling as she rested her head on his shoulder. "Well if she does, you're in the perfect room to satisfy it!" Willy pointed out. "Okay, I guess that was a little silly of me," Ronnie admitted, her face beet red. "I like it when you're silly," Willy insisted, nuzzling his head into the top of hers.

At that moment, a familiar bulge appeared in Ronnie's midsection: that of a tiny foot. "And I like it when you're silly, too!" Willy cooed to the owner of the foot. To his delight, that comment was followed by several more kicks. "You like it when I call you silly, don't you?" he asked. "Going by the fact that he or she appears to be doing an all-out gymnastics routine right now, I'd say that's a pretty safe assumption," Ronnie laughed. "Can you believe we're going to be parents in just a few weeks?" Willy asked, smiling as he rubbed his wife's belly.

"It hardly seems possible, that's for sure. After our scare back in December, July suddenly seemed a lot further off than seven months. And now it feels as though hardly any time has gone by since then," Ronnie remarked. "My thoughts exactly. Time can certainly be a funny thing," Willy said. "In more ways than just one," Ronnie commented. "What do you mean by that?" Willy inquired, looking a bit confused. "Remember how I told you after I fell apart on Christmas Eve that I basically couldn't wait for the baby to arrive?" Ronnie asked. Willy nodded. "I remember it almost as if it were yesterday," he said. "Well, now I feel pretty much the exact opposite. I mean, don't get me wrong, I'm still extremely eager to meet our baby, and I'm getting more and more excited the closer July gets. But at the same time, I'm also a bit sad that my pregnancy is coming to an end," Ronnie explained.

"I am, too. This has been a very special time for us, and I'll miss it," Willy admitted. Ronnie nodded in agreement. "I think what I'm going to miss the most is the feeling of the baby moving around inside me. It can be a bit annoying at times, like when he or she decides to start kick-boxing right as I'm falling asleep, but mostly I enjoy it. Having an empty womb again is definitely going to take some getting used to," she said. "Can you guess what MY favorite part of the pregnancy has been?" Willy asked, smiling tenderly at his wife. "The fact that it's enhanced my chest quite a bit?" Ronnie guessed. The chocolatier blushed crimson. "That's not my FIRST favorite, no," he told Ronnie. "Okay, then. My only other guess is interacting with the baby," his wife said, hiding a smile (she had known all along that this second guess was most likely what her husband was going to say, but she hadn't been able to resist teasing him a bit first!).

Willy nodded, his face taking on a soft, almost nostalgic look. "Specifically, listening to her heartbeat," he said. "So that's why he's been spending so much time with his ear pressed to my belly, and why he does it mostly during quiet times," Ronnie thought, feeling extremely touched. "You first heard it when you were listening for the baby's kicks, didn't you?" she asked, suddenly remembering what had been going on when Willy had first started listening to her abdomen. Once again, the candy maker nodded. "As you well know, it really bothered me that I still couldn't feel the baby move at that time. Then it occurred to me to try listening to her. When I realized that I could hear her heartbeat in addition to her movements, I felt like the luckiest father alive," he said, his voice soft and full of emotion.

Just as they had when Willy had proudly and happily announced that he'd felt the baby kick for the first time, Ronnie's eyes welled up with tears. "Boy, if I'm getting this sentimental about your interactions with the baby now, then I'm going to be in trouble once he or she is born and I finally get to see you interacting and bonding directly with him or her," she observed. "YOU'RE going to be in trouble? I'm the one who's going to be constantly teased by Charlie and the Oompa Loompas for being such a softie," Willy playfully retorted.

"As far as I'm concerned, you were a softie long before we created a child together...and I wouldn't have it any other way," Ronnie told her husband as she gazed lovingly at him. "Awww, shucks!" Willy responded, wrapping his arm around his wife and gently guiding her lips toward his. "You know, sometimes I wonder how I managed to get so lucky. After being single for so long, I started to think that maybe marriage just wasn't in the cards for me. Having a family didn't seem too likely either, given my age," Ronnie mused. "And now you're about to have both," Willy finished for her, leaning down and closing the gap between their lips.

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 19 Preview: <strong>July finally arrives...but the baby seems content to stay where s/he is, making for an extremely uncomfortable, irritable Ronnie!


	19. Chapter 19: Overdue Anxiety

**Disclaimer: **Baby Wonka belongs to me, nothing else in this story does!

**A/n: **Two chapters in less than a month yet again! This chapter is another slightly shorter one, but the next couple of chapters should make up for that, as I anticipate them being on the longer side. With that out of the way, thank you to my reviewers for the last chapter...all FOUR of you! I don't remember when the last time is that I got that many reviews for a chapter, and it makes me one happy lady! Anyway, I hope you enjoy this chapter, and please keep those reviews coming!

* * *

><p>The remainder of Willy and Ronnie's second honeymoon was even better than the first few days had been (especially since Ronnie didn't experience any further early preterm labor scares!). They enjoyed themselves so much, in fact, that they actually felt a bit sad when the day came for them to move back into their apartment! But within a matter of days, that sadness had given way to intense excitement. Ronnie's due date of July 5th had finally arrived, and that meant, of course, that their baby would soon be born. Or at least, that's what they thought.<p>

A week later, however, Ronnie was still pregnant...and in an extreme amount of discomfort. The baby had turned head down in preparation for delivery, meaning that his or her kicks were now aimed at the expectant mother's ribs. He or she had also"dropped", making walking extremely awkward and uncomfortable for the female Wonka. The constant pressure on her hips and pelvis meant that sitting, standing still, or lying down didn't feel that great either. Her back ached more than ever (despite frequent massages from Willy), getting a good night's sleep had become nearly impossible, and at times it seemed she could barely go five minutes without visiting the bathroom (thanks to the baby pressing on her bladder).

All of this, as you can imagine, left Ronnie cranky, tired, frustrated, and no longer getting any pleasure out of being pregnant. As if that weren't enough, the anxiety about labor and delivery that she thought she'd conquered back in April had resurfaced and was getting worse by the day. She'd even had a few nightmares about it, just as her husband had three months earlier. To put it quite simply, Veronica Wonka was an emotional wreck. And on the night of that one week anniversary of her due date, during an evening cuddle session on the couch with Willy, she finally reached her breaking point.

Their almost nightly ritual had started out innocently enough, with them talking about the baby, sharing a few kisses, and relishing their last little bit of time together before becoming a family of three. Then Willy, in a playfully sneaky manner, slipped his hand under the top of Ronnie's nightgown (as usual, the couple had changed into their pajamas prior to the cuddle) and began caressing her breast, something she usually enjoyed immensely. But that night she was in no mood for intimate touches. "Don't touch me like that!" she snapped. Startled, the chocolatier pulled his hand away. "I thought you liked it when I did that to you," he said, his expression a mixture of hurt and bewilderment. "Well tonight I don't, obviously!" Ronnie shouted.

"Okay, okay. I get the message. You don't have to shout," Willy said. "That's easy for you to say!" Ronnie yelled. "Sweetheart, what's gotten into you? It isn't like you to act this way," Willy inquired, his voice full of concern. "What's gotten into me?! What's gotten into me?! I am carrying a watermelon on my hips twenty-four seven, walking is a chore, pretty much everything from my groin to my lower back aches more often than not, my bladder pretty much constantly feels like it needs to be emptied, and if I can get a few hours a sleep a night, I'm lucky! But instead of taking any of that into consideration, all you can think about are your own selfish needs! That's what 'gotten into me'!" Ronnie exploded.

"How can I possibly 'take it into consideration' when you don't communicate it to me?! I know you're feeling more and more uncomfortable, but you were fine with me kissing you, and clearly enjoyed it when we went all the way earlier in the week. I can't know whether or not you're feeling up to being intimate unless you tell me," Willy pointed out, exasperation more than evident in his voice. He fully expected Ronnie to shout at him again, or possibly even storm out of the room (at least as much as she could "storm" in her condition). But she didn't. Instead, tears began trickling down her cheeks and she said softly, "I don't know how you can even stand to SEE me in an intimate way right now, let alone touch me in one".

"Now why in the world would you think I'd suddenly find you unattractive?!" Willy asked, feeling utterly shocked. "Because I am! My stomach is huge and covered with stretch marks, my legs and face are swollen, I basically have permanent dark circles under my eyes from not being able to sleep well, and I tend to dribble when I laugh or cough, if you know what I mean. There isn't a thing about me that's attractive right now!" Ronnie insisted, her teariness now outright sobbing. Hearing his wife basically say that she hated her looks made Willy want to cry himself.

"Pregnancy hasn't made you unattractive, sweetheart. Quite the opposite, in fact. I told you before that I find you even more beautiful pregnant, and that's not about to change because of a few stretch marks or dark circles," he told his beloved, wrapping his arms around her and holding her close (as close as her extremely protruding abdomen would allow, that is!). "You honestly think my stretch marks and other things make me look beautiful?" Ronnie asked, looking at her husband in disbelief. Willy nodded vigorously.

"Yes. They were all caused, after all, by your body doing one of the most beautiful, wonderful things in the world: nourishing and protecting a new life. Only a fool would find that unattractive," he said firmly. To prove his point, he lifted up the bottom of Ronnie's nightgown and planted a big kiss on her belly. "Do you have the best daddy in the universe or what?" Ronnie asked the baby, placing her hand where Willy's mouth had been only seconds earlier. "And the best mommy in the universe," Willy added, looking lovingly at his wife.

Before Ronnie could respond to that, she let out a huge yawn. "Also the tiredest," she remarked. Willy couldn't help but smile as he watched her eyelids droop. Personally, he thought she looked especially cute when that happened. "I guess we'd better go to bed before you fall asleep right here and now, then," he said, getting up off the couch and offering his hand to her. Ronnie was all too eager to take it. "At this rate, don't be surprised if I fall asleep on you en route to the bedroom," she mumbled, resting her head on her husband's shoulder.

**WWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW **

With Ronnie falling asleep pretty much the second her head hit the pillow and Willy doing so shortly after, the next few hours were fairly quiet and peaceful. Sometime around midnight, however, the couple quite literally received a rude awakening. Willy, who had been having a decidedly naughty dream about the mother of his child, was roused by a sudden, frightened cry. Rubbing his eyes, he sat up and immediately looked over at the opposite side of the bed. And what he saw made his heart ache. His wife was also sitting up, but unlike him, she was holding her head in her hands, crying even harder than she had been just before they went to bed.

"You had a nightmare, didn't you?" the confectioner inquired, reaching out and lovingly stroking her hair. Ronnie nodded. "I saw myself lying on here on the bed, giving birth. At first everything seemed to be going okay, but then I...I..." she trailed off, unable to bring herself to finish her sentence. "You what? What happened, buttercup?" Willy asked gently. "I couldn't get the baby out! I was pushing and pushing, but he or she wasn't budging. Then, just as I heard myself let out an awful scream, the dream 'cut' to an image of me post-delivery. My nether regions were barely recognizable, and there was a lot of blood. And although I kept waiting for our little one's first cry, it never came!" Ronnie burst out.

For the second time that night, the candy maker enfolded his wife in his loving embrace. "In other words, as eager as you are to have this pregnancy be over, the prospect of giving birth has you pretty freaked out," he said, his voice soft and soothing. Ronnie nodded again. "I've never done it before, obviously, and I'm so scared something is going to go wrong!" she fretted. "Like the baby getting stuck," Willy supplied. For the third time, Ronnie nodded. "As if you couldn't tell, I'm also scared that I'll tear really badly or that I'll end up with a severe hemorrhage or something! Not to mention the fact that I have no idea how I'm going to handle the pain! When it comes right down to it, and I don't care if this makes me sound weak, the thought of pushing a human being out of my body terrifies me!" she cried.

"You're not weak, buttercup. On the contrary, you're one of the strongest women, heck one of the strongest people, that I know," Willy soothed her. "Yeah, right! If were so strong, I wouldn't be such a basket case about something as ordinary and routine as having a baby," Ronnie protested. "It may be ordinary and routine, but as you yourself pointed out, it's something you've never done before. Your body is about to undertake an enormous, physically demanding task, and you have every right to feel nervous about it," Willy told her.

"Nervous? That would be putting it rather mildly," Ronnie muttered. "You're going to do fine, peppermint. Don't forget, we've been 'rehearsing' quite a bit using the pain-control techniques we've learned from those videos and books," her husband assured her, giving her hand a gentle, supportive squeeze. "That won't help me avoid tearing," Ronnie pointed out. "No, but pushing in whatever position feels most comfortable to you and having it be body-directed rather than coached can, and our plan is for you to do both of those things," Willy reminded her. Then, anticipating his wife's next comment, he quickly added, "And as far as postpartum hemorrhage goes, all our books and videos have indicated that it, especially the severe variety, is a relatively rare occurrence."

"All of that may be true, but I'm still nervous. Oh, who am I trying to kid?! I'm not going to be able to relax about the birth until it's over," Ronnie admitted. "That's perfectly natural. And if it makes you feel any better, you're not the only one who's still a bit anxious about the birth, if you know what I mean," Willy said, his eyes twinkling. For the first time since she'd woken up rather abruptly from her nightmare, Ronnie smiled. "Your daddy and I make quite a team, don't we?" she asked her enormous midsection.

"We sure do, and as I've said to you before, I intend for that to be especially true during the birth. It may be you who will physically be bringing our child into the world, but I'm going to be right there beside you doing whatever I can to support you through the process and make it as easy on you as I possibly can," the confectioner replied, leaning over and planting a soft kiss on his wife's lips. In response, Ronnie sighed contentedly and nuzzled her head into her husband's shoulder. "Now if the baby would just hurry up and...OUCH!" as you might guess, the expectant mother's sentence was cut short by a sudden kick from within.

"I understand that you're very happy in there and are in no rush to come out, but you don't have to attack your mommy's ribs to get that point across!" Willy playfully scolded his child. As you might guess, his words only made the littlest Wonka kick even more. "OW! Willy, you're not exactly helping matters by talking to him or her, you know!" Ronnie groaned in exasperation. "Sorry. I wasn't thinking, obviously," Willy apologized. "Oh, that's all right. I know you didn't mean any harm. It's just..." Ronnie trailed off, not feeling like completing her thought. "That you wish you weren't pregnant anymore?" Willy suggested, his voice soft and sympathetic.

"As hypocritical as it sounds, yes," Ronnie confessed. "And what exactly is so hypocritical about it?" Willy asked, looking puzzled. "The fact that, not even a full month ago, I was gushing about how much I was ENJOYING being pregnant!" his wife replied. "That's not being hypocritical, buttercup. You couldn't have possibly known then that you would be so uncomfortable by now. Not to mention the fact that we weren't exactly anticipating the baby being late given our false labor scare," Willy assured her. "I just want this baby out!" Ronnie exclaimed in frustration. "I know, sweetheart. And don't forget, we have an appointment with Sally tomorrow. She might have some suggestions on how to move things along, or at the very least how we can ease your discomfort," the candy maker said soothingly.

"I sure hope so!" Ronnie sighed, her eyelids beginning to droop once more. "I take it you've finally gotten sleepy again," Willy said, his voice soft and full of love for his wife. "More like I've almost forgotten what it feels like NOT to be," Ronnie murmured as she lie down. "I know it's hard, but try to focus on the end result of all this: a child of our very own to nurture and love," her husband said comfortingly, smiling tenderly at her as he, too, rested his head on his pillow. Ronnie didn't respond right away, and at first she was so quiet the chocolatier thought she'd fallen asleep. But then, her eyes still closed, she wiggled closer to him, turned her head, and gave him a soft kiss on the cheek.

**WWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW **

After their late night (the remainder of which, much to their relief, had passed without incident!), morning came far too soon for the Wonkas' tastes. In fact, if Ronnie's appointment with Sally hadn't been scheduled for nine a.m. and Willy hadn't needed to go to work (his wife, being she was so close to giving birth, was now on maternity leave from the bakery), they probably would have slept until noon! Dragging themselves out of bed had felt like pure torture, and it had taken them twice as long as usual to wash, dress, and otherwise prepare for the day.

Even leaving the apartment to go to Sally's had been an adventure, as Willy had discovered just as they were heading out the door that he had his shirt on backwards (which, naturally, had required him to duck back inside briefly to switch it around)! As a result of this, the confectionery couple had to take the glass elevator in order to make it to the appointment on time (they had planned to walk, both for the exercise and because walking had been one of the things their pregnancy books had suggested as a method to bring on labor).

"How have you been feeling, Mrs. Wonka?" Sally asked once the Wonkas had arrived at her office and they'd exchanged good mornings. "Exhausted, anxious about giving birth, and more than ready for this baby to arrive!" Ronnie replied. "I'll bet. The last few weeks are often the most trying," Sally said as she checked the baby's heartbeat. "You can say that again!" Ronnie groaned. "Well, the baby certainly seems to be very content in there, as his or her heartbeat is nice and strong, and there's no signs of distress. But that doesn't, of course, mean that labor isn't imminent. So if you'll please go ahead and put your feet up in those stirrups, I'll check for any changes down below," Sally instructed her.

Without hesitating, Ronnie did as she was told (ordinarily she, like most women, didn't particularly enjoy pelvic exams. But in this instance, she was too eager to hear about ANY sign that labor would soon begin to care!). After what seemed like an eternity (but was in reality only a few minutes), Sally finished the exam. "So, what's the verdict?" the female Wonka asked as her doctor set her instruments in a tray of disinfectant. "You've dilated about one centimeter and there's some slight effacement as well," Sally told her. "What does that mean?" Ronnie inquired (crossing her fingers that the answer would be that she would soon give birth!). "Just that your body is making preparations for childbirth, I'm afraid. Whether those preparations mean you'll be going into labor tomorrow or in another week is anyone's guess," Sally explained.

"Do you have any tips on how to encourage the baby to come out?" Willy spoke up. "We've tried just about everything our books recommend, from walking to getting busy between the sheets, but obviously nothing has worked so far," Ronnie put in. "Not really, except to continue with the methods you've been using. If the baby still hasn't made an appearance by next week, we'll talk about inducing. But in the meantime all I can really tell you is to try to be patient. I know it's frustrating, but ultimately the baby will come when he or she is good and ready to, and not a second sooner," Sally said. "Well, at least now I've heard it from the horse's mouth!" Ronnie replied, trying to keep a sense of humor about the situation. "We really do appreciate your support," her husband added. "Don't mention it. And with any luck, the next time I see you will be on the big day!" Sally replied.

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 20 Preview: <strong>Ronnie, Nora, and Sylvia are having another "ladies brunch"...during which the expectant mother begins to feel strange!


	20. Chapter 20: Baby Steps

**Disclaimer: **Baby Wonka is mine...you know the rest!

**A/n: **Yet another chapter up fairly quickly after the last! It is indeed longer like I promised, and I hope you enjoy it. As always, a big thank you to my one reviewer for the last chapter, and please keep those reviews coming. I can't get enough of 'em!

* * *

><p>"My goodness, you sure are hungry today!" Nora commented. She, Sylvia, and Ronnie were having another "ladies brunch", this time at her house, and Ronnie had nearly finished her second helping of the smorgasboard-style meal (pancakes, waffles, omelets, fruit, sausage, bacon, and cinnamon rolls – most of which Ronnie had eaten at least one of- were just a few of the options Nora had provided). The expectant mother nodded. "Two days ago I barely had an appetite and now suddenly I'm starving. I don't get it either," she said.<p>

"That's the thing about pregnancy. More often than not, it's unpredictable, especially in the final stages," Sylvia quipped. "You've got that right! As James would be quick to tell you, my emotions were like a ping-pong ball in the last few weeks before I had Charlie. One minute I would be having a great time with him, talking, laughing, hugging, or whatever, and then the next minute I'd be screaming at him. The poor guy didn't know what to do with me!" Nora agreed. "Willy could definitely sympathize with that right about now!" Ronnie chuckled. "In other words, you've been suffering from end-of-pregnancyitis, too," Nora laughed.

"I think that would be the understatement of the year," Ronnie responded, grinning playfully. "Not that I can't probably guess on my own, but what exactly has your baby been making you do lately?" Nora asked. "Well, for starters, I was enjoying the kisses Willy was lavishing on me on the other night...only to turn around and yell at him for getting even more intimate less than two minutes later," Ronnie explained. "Sounds familiar," Nora replied, unable to hide her amusement. "I'll bet. But if you think that was interesting, you should have seen me last night!" Ronnie told her friend. "What happened?" Sylvia inquired, looking every bit as anxious to hear her daughter's pregnancy-induced adventures as Nora was.

"I suddenly got an extreme urge to clean. And I mean extreme. I went through my dresser, Willy's dresser, our closet, the front hall closet, and all of our book shelves except for those in Willy's study. I also dusted and organized everything in the nursery about five or six times, washed all of the baby's clothes even though I'd already done so before, put them in his or her dresser and closet, and went through the supplies we've set aside for the birth so many times that Willy finally asked me whether I was feeling okay!" Ronnie explained.

"Hmm, sounds to me like you're nesting," Sylvia said, smiling proudly and lovingly at her daughter. "That's what I figured, too. I didn't expect to turn into the organizational monster, though!" Ronnie quipped. "I know what you mean. When I was pregnant with Charlie, my mom and Josephine were constantly joking that they couldn't wait for the last few weeks before the baby came, since I'd probably be begging them NOT to help me clean! So I was somewhat prepared, but I was still taken by surprise by just how obsessive I got about having everything in order. As you might guess, I had James questioning my sanity!" Nora chuckled. "Willy was definitely questioning mine, too...especially when he caught me alphabetizing our spices! He looked at me as though I'd lost my..." suddenly feeling an odd sensation in her abdomen, Ronnie stopped chortling abruptly.

"Are you okay, Ronnie?" Nora asked her friend. The female Wonka thought for a moment, not sure how to answer. The sensation she had just felt was very similar to the false labor contractions she'd experienced a month earlier, only slightly stronger. As happy as she was about the prospect of her baby finally deciding to greet the world, however, she didn't want to get too excited or say anything for fear that it would turn out to be another false alarm (or even simply a side-effect of laughing so hard). "Yes," she finally settled for saying. "Are you sure? You looked awfully startled," Nora pressed her. "It's probably nothing. Really, don't worry about it," Ronnie insisted, not wanting to outright lie.

"Okay, if you say so," Nora said, not sounding convinced at all. "So, I know Charlie's working with Willy as usual, but what's the rest of your family up to?" Ronnie inquired, eager to change the subject and take the focus off of her body and what may or may not have been going on in it. Luckily, Nora seemed more than happy to discuss the whereabouts of her family members. "Well, James and Grandpa Joe are taking a walk, Grandma Josephine took some books and knitting down to the shore of the Chocolate River for a morning of relaxation, and my parents are having a picnic," she explained. Sylvia couldn't help but smile. "For some reason, I never pictured your parents as the type to go on picnics and stuff like that," she said.

Nora smiled back. "Sometimes I have a hard time believing it myself. But despite dad's gruff nature and mom frequently not being mentally 'all there', they're actually one of the most romantic couples I know. They like to sneak little moments together whenever they can," she said. "Sounds like another couple I know," Sylvia replied, grinning at her daughter. "I suppose so," Ronnie murmured absently. Sylvia raised her eyebrows. Something was up with her only child. And after several more minutes of Ronnie remaining mostly silent, saying no more than about three words when she DID speak, and resting her hand on her extremely swollen midsection quite a bit, she knew that her motherly intuition had been right.

"You've gone into labor, haven't you?" the baker asked her daughter, unable to hide her smile. "I hope so. I'm having contractions, which are coming about eight minutes apart, but with my luck it will just turn out to be another false alarm," Ronnie told her. "How do they compare with the braxton-hicks ones you had last month?" Sylvia inquired. "They're stronger. Not unbearable, but stronger," Ronnie answered. "I'm no doctor, but those sure don't sound like braxton-hicks contractions to me. Ronnie, I think we can safely say it's official: you're about to become a mother," Sylvia said, a look of tenderness and pride on her face.

"In that case, I suppose we'd better get back to the apartment," Ronnie said, her expression making it clear that she was somewhat in shock. Nora grinned at her friend. "Isn't there someone you want to call first?" she asked, a teasing tone in her voice. "I can't believe I forgot about telling Willy!" Ronnie exclaimed, clapping her hand to her forehead. Then, upon digging around in her pockets, she made a discovery that made her even more disgusted with herself. "Not thinking to alert my husband to the fact that our baby is on the way was stupid enough, but it seems I forgot to bring my WonkaPhone with me this morning, too!" she groaned in exasperation. "Ronnie, it's all right. With everything you've had on your mind lately, a little forgetfulness is to be expected," Nora assured her. "And I have my phone with me, so you can use that," Sylvia added, handing her daughter the aforementioned object.

Flashing her mother a grateful smile, Ronnie found her husband's number in the contact list and dialed it. Much to her relief, the chocolatier picked up on the first ring. "Hi, Sylvia," he said cheerfully. "Actually, this is your wife, and I'm calling to tell you that someone is ready to meet his or her daddy," Ronnie told him, grinning so hard she thought her cheeks would break. For the next minute or two, there was dead silence on the other end of the phone. Then Willy, sounding giddier than she'd ever heard him, exclaimed (so loudly that his wife had to hold the phone away from her ear!), "You mean it's finally time?!"

"I'm pretty sure, yes. I'm having regular, strong contractions about eight minutes apart," Ronnie reported. "In that case, I'll be right home," the candy maker announced. "Before you do that, could you please call Sally for me? As you can probably guess, I left my phone at home and obviously mom doesn't have her number on hers," Ronnie requested. "Of course, buttercup. I'll do that just as soon as you and I hang up," the candy maker assured her. "Thanks, I really appreciate it. Mom, Nora, and I will head back to the apartment and meet you there," Ronnie said. "Okay, I'll see you in just a few minutes," Willy told her as he hung up.

**WWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW WW**

Despite the fact they had walked and one of them was in labor, Ronnie, Nora, and Sylvia reached the apartment in less than ten minutes. "Okay, we've got to get things ready!" the expectant mother declared practically the second the trio stepped inside. With that, she began bustling about (with more speed and grace than you may think capable of a woman so close to giving birth!). She swapped the relatively nice sheets on her and Willy's bed (the place she intended to give birth) for an old pair that she didn't care about ruining with her body fluids, changed into the nightgown she'd set aside for the occasion (an old one she no longer cared about, naturally!), and went through the other supplies she and Willy had gathered for about the ten billionth time.

Just as she was finishing up, she felt a hand on her shoulder. "I'm here, peppermint. How are you feeling?" a very familiar voice inquired. "Not too bad so far. I can still talk through the contractions without any trouble, and my ability to walk during them hasn't yet been affected. They're not comfortable, no, but at this point I'd describe them as strong but manageable," Ronnie told her husband, smiling as she turned to face him. The chocolatier smiled back. "That's very good to hear," he said. Then, sounding like the little boy at Christmas time he had on the phone, he proclaimed, "I can't believe we're actually, finally going to be able to see and hold our little one!"

"Me either. I was beginning to think she or he would never come!" Ronnie agreed, feeling pretty darn giddy herself. "She or he certainly has perfect timing, waiting until Sylvia was already at the factory to come," Nora put in. "What can I say? My grandchild wants to make things as easy on me as possible!" Sylvia joked. "Probably because she knows you're going to spoil her rotten!" Willy quipped. "I wouldn't talk if I were you!" Ronnie teased her husband. "And just what's that supposed to mean?" the confectioner asked, pretending (not very successfully!) to be annoyed. "It means that the baby is going to have you wrapped around his or her little finger within about five seconds," Ronnie replied, gazing tenderly at her beloved.

In response, Willy leaned in for a kiss...only to be interrupted by a knock at the door. "That'll be Sally. I'll just go get her," he said, more than a hint of disappointment in his voice as he hurried off. Less than a minute later, he returned with his wife's physician in tow. "So, the big day has finally arrived!" the diminutive doctor greeted her patient. "I hope, anyway!" Ronnie told her. "You've been having fairly consistent contractions, which are coming about every eight minutes, correct?" Sally asked, clearly trying to remember the information Willy had given her when he called. "Correct," Ronnie confirmed. "And how would you describe their intensity?" Sally inquired. "Strong but manageable," Ronnie said, reiterating what she had told her her husband just minutes earlier.

"Sure sounds like early labor to me. In order to be sure, though, I need to check to see if you've dilated any further since I saw you yesterday," Sally informed the expectant mother. "I know what that means!" Ronnie groaned as she lie down across the bed, resting her knees on the edge and allowing her lower legs to dangle. Realizing that some improvising was necessary due to the lack of stirrups, Willy walked over to the bedside and held his wife's left leg aloft while Sylvia did the same with her right. "Thank you," Sally told them as she took her tools out of her bag, climbed onto an ottoman (which Ronnie had brought into the room during her preparations, knowing Sally would need something to stand on while checking her over) and began the examination. To her great surprise, her patient responded to her probing by bursting out laughing.

"I think I can safely say this is the first time time I've made a patient giggle by sticking my instruments and fingers inside her!" the doctor chuckled (before Ronnie had moved to the factory and married Willy, Sally had been an OB/GYN for the Oompa Loompa women). "Don't worry, it's not the actual exam that's making me laugh. I'm not quite THAT strange! I'm laughing at the absurdity of the situation. I mean, think about it. I am lying on the bed, revealing more of myself to my mother and husband than they probably ever wanted to see. Not exactly Miss Dignity!" Ronnie laughed.

"Just you wait! By the time you're pushing that baby out, caring about your dignity will be a distant memory!" Sylvia teased her daughter. "And in the meantime, it's not like we can see all that much with Sally standing in front of you," Willy added, hoping to put his wife at ease. "Good. I wouldn't want to scar you for life or anything!" Ronnie chuckled. "Hey, if I'm going to be at least trying to watch you give birth, then I'd better be able to handle something as simple as being up close while your doctor is giving you a pelvic exam. Although I must say, I DO prefer it when it's me doing the 'examining' in that area," the chocolatier told her, a mischievous look on his face.

Ronnie's cheeks turned bright red. "Willy!" she hissed, wishing she could crawl into a hole and stay there. "Sorry, I couldn't help myself," the chocolatier said, leaning over to give his wife an apology kiss. "He knows I can't stay mad at him when he does that!" Ronnie thought, a smile tugging at her lips. "Okay, okay, I forgive you. Just don't do it again!" she playfully told her husband. Before the confectioner could respond, Sally finished her examination. "Sorry to interrupt, but I have some good news. Ronnie, you were right. I saw more dilation and effacement than was present yesterday, so you are definitely in early labor," she said.

"That's very good to know. How many centimeters am I now?" Ronnie inquired. "About two and a half," Sally informed her. "That's only one and a half more than I was yesterday!" Ronnie groaned, not even trying to hide her frustration. "I know, probably not what you were hoping to hear. But it's normal for things to start slowly. Generally, things don't really pick up until you're around four centimeters. Then you dilate about a centimeter per hour," Sally explained. "That doesn't mean that we can't do stuff to speed things along, though. And I don't know about you, but I feel like going for a walk," Willy spoke up. "What would I do without you, mon bonbon homme?" Ronnie asked, giving her husband a grateful smile. "I don't even want to think about it," the candy maker replied, entwining his arm with his wife's and leading the way out of the room.

No sooner had they stepped into the hallway and started walking than they heard the distinctive "click" of a camera. A quick head-sweep confirmed what Ronnie had suspected: The camera belonged to her mother, who was standing in the doorway behind them and grinning. "It guess we don't have to worry about having our child's arrival documented!" Willy chuckled softly. "It certainly appears that way. Knowing mom, though, we're going to have to set some boundaries prior to the baby's actual emergence!" Ronnie whispered (to insure Sylvia wouldn't overhear!), rolling her eyes.

"You mean you don't think our little one is going to want to see explicit pictures of her arrival?" Willy teased. "I'm not sure even _I _care to see them, to be perfectly honest. I know it's the miracle of life and all, but me giving birth is one moment that I'd rather not have captured for posterity," Ronnie responded, her tone light and playful. "Then we'll set a strict no-photos-after-pushing-commences policy," her husband told her, leaning over and giving her a feathery kiss. "I would be very grateful," Ronnie said, giving the confectioner's hand a loving squeeze.

With neither half of the confectionery couple desiring to say much more, they walked in silence for the next several minutes. They made a big loop around the apartment, strolling through the living room, kitchen, and Willy's new study before finally heading back down the hallway. Instead of going back into their bedroom, however, the continued on past it and entered the next room: their child's nursery. Exchanging grins, the duo looked around the littlest Wonka's room, taking everything in...something that, ironically, neither one had done before. Although they had spent plenty of time in the room putting the furniture together and arranging things, they hadn't taken the time to actually enjoy and admire the "finished product".

Since the Wonkas' had opted not to find out the baby's gender, the walls had been painted a pastel yellow. The curtains were cream (or, as Willy had dubbed the color, pastry filling!), as was the pad on the changing table that sat below them. A rocking chair stood in one corner, a crib (complete with a candy-themed mobile and a sheet to match the curtains and changing table pad) in another. A third corner was occupied by a bookcase, while a dresser stood opposite the changing table. And hanging on the wall by the crib was the confectionery couple's favorite feature of the room: an intimate portrait of the two of them.

It had been painted by Sycamore, the factory's Oompa Loompa "artist in residence", and depicted a blissfully happy, nude Ronnie leaning back against her husband's bare chest (to keep the portrait tasteful, as well as something that the baby would enjoy when he or she was older instead of being embarrassed by, the couple had requested that Sycamore keep things strictly above the waist). For his part, the chocolatier was gazing lovingly into his wife's eyes, his head on her shoulder and his hand on her belly. His other arm encircled her at chest level (again in an attempt to make the painting look artistic rather than like something out of an adult magazine).

The portrait had been completed only two weeks earlier, and as Willy looked at it, he couldn't help but think that it symbolized more than just his and Ronnie's love for each other and their child. As far as he was concerned, it symbolized the journey that had brought them to this point. "It seems like just yesterday that we saw our little gumdrop on the ultrasound for the first time, and now she's almost here. I can hardly believe it," the father-to-be breathed. "Me neither. Sometimes it feels unreal to think that eight months have gone by since I found out I was pregnant," his wife replied, smiling tenderly at him.

Once again lapsing into silence, the couple admired the nursery for a few minutes longer before returning to their bedroom. "Did you have a nice walk?" Nora asked. "We sure did," Ronnie told her. "We were beginning to think you were having such a good time that you weren't going to come back!" Sylvia joked. "What in the world would make you think that, mom?" Ronnie asked, feeling extremely confused. Instead of saying anything, the elder woman smiled and pointed to the clock. When Ronnie saw what time it was, her eyeballs nearly popped out of her head. She and Willy had been walking and enjoying their baby's room for nearly an hour!

"If I hadn't just replaced the batteries in that thing three days ago, I would swear it was broken! I know they say time flies when you're having fun, but wow!" she remarked. Nora burst out laughing. "Would you believe I just said the same thing to Sylvia and Sally about two minutes ago?! We had been having a good talk when I suddenly happened to look at the clock and realized you two had been gone for a lot longer than we'd thought," she hooted. "What were you talking about?" Ronnie inquired. "What else? Giving birth!" Sylvia answered. "We had been talking about how exciting it was that you were finally in labor, and that led to us talking about our own birth experiences," Nora elaborated.

"And speaking of which, has there been any change in your contractions, Mrs. Wonka?" Sally asked. "I've actually barely even thought of them since Willy and I headed out on our walk, but now that you mention it, no, unfortunately," Ronnie answered. "Okay. Well, given that fact, I doubt much has happened. But I can still do another dilation check if you want me to," Sally said. "I think it's best to wait. I'd rather not know the lack of progress I've made," Ronnie said jokingly. "And the thought of me sticking my fingers and instruments inside you again has nothing to do with it, right?!" Sally teased. "You know, that reminds me of a funny experience I had when you were born," Sylvia told her daughter, her eyes twinkling as she proceeded to tell her tale.

As you can probably guess, Sylvia didn't stop with just the one labor story. She told several, as did Nora. Sally also told a few stories about some of her funnier adventures as an OB/GYN, and Ronnie and Willy shared some of their favorite moments in prepping for parenthood. The group got so into talking that, before they knew it, the rest of the afternoon and evening had flown by (they hadn't even stopped talking for supper, other than the few minutes it took for Sylvia and Nora to prepare sandwiches for everyone). Now it was night time, and the quintet was trying to figure out what should be done in regards to sleeping.

"Sally, why don't you go on home and get some sleep. It's not like anything's happening anyway. And if we really need you, Willy can call you on the WonkaPhone," Ronnie suggested. "Are you sure?" Sally asked. "Yes," Ronnie said firmly. Sally still wasn't convinced, but after a few more minutes of persuasion from both Ronnie and Willy, she gave in. "And now I suggest that you take your own advice," Sylvia advised her daughter and son-in-law once the petite physician had gone. "I know it might seem weird to go to even think about sleeping while you're in labor, but believe me, you should while you still can. You'll be grateful later," Nora added.

Willy and Ronnie agreed it was worth a shot, and several minutes later, the apartment was quiet. Nora had gone to bed (on the couch in the living room) and Sylvia was getting ready to (her bed would be the couch in Willy's study). After she brushed her teeth, she couldn't resist peaking into her daughter and son-in-law's room. And what she saw made her heart melt. Ronnie was lying in bed, fast asleep. A chair was next to her side of the bed (indicating that Willy had intended to keep watch over his laboring wife rather than going to sleep), but Willy wasn't in it. Instead, the confectioner was curled up near the woman he loved. His arm was cradling her protectively...and he was sharing her pillow, his forehead touching hers.

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 21 preview: <strong>Ronnie finds herself pushed to the brink both physically and emotionally as her labor intensifies. With her husband's support, will she finally give birth to Baby Wonka?


	21. Chapter 21: Lights, Camera, Baby!

**Disclaimer: **The only thing I own is Baby Wonka...etc., etc.!

**A/n: **Well, I hope I don't spoil too much here, but I think this is the moment most of you have been waiting for! :) I took a little longer than I had hoped to get this chapter out, but I personally think it was worth the wait, and hopefully you do, too! As always, a huge thank you goes out to my one reviewer for the last chapter, and I'd be one very happy lady if you kept 'em coming! :)

* * *

><p>For Ronnie, Willy, and Nora, the first (and, she fervently hoped, only!) night of the female Wonka's labor proved to be a fairly uneventful one that passed quickly. But Sylvia Wells couldn't remember the last time morning had seemed so far away. While her daughter, son-in-law, and friend slept peacefully, she tossed and turned, her mind unwilling, unable, or perhaps a combination of the two, to submit to slumber. It seemed almost unreal, she thought, that the precious baby girl that she could have sworn she'd held in her arms for the first time only yesterday was now in the process of delivering her own child.<p>

Sylvia's sentimental thoughts weren't the only things keep her awake, though. Her daughter being in labor was also bringing out her concerned, protective side. No matter how many times she assured herself that everything was all right and that Willy would obviously alert her and Nora if anything major was going on, she couldn't stop wondering how labor was treating her only child, and whether her body was allowing her to get the rest she needed. And just as she had whenever Ronnie was sick as a little girl, she found herself getting up to check on her several times.

Somewhere around her sixth trip (which revealed, just as the others had, that Ronnie and Willy were sleeping peacefully, curled up together pretty much the same way they had been when Sylvia had first peeked in on them), the baker decided she may as well give up on sleep for awhile. So instead of returning to her son-in-law's study, she tip-toed (so as not to wake Willy or Ronnie) into her grandchild's room. Being as quiet as she possibly could, she moved the rocker so that it was facing the window and sat in it. Then she looked out at the night sky and allowed herself to think about the one aspect of her grandson or daughter's extremely imminent arrival that was making her a bit sad.

"Oh, Henry, if only you could be here. I know you would be so proud and so happy about becoming a grandfather. And Mina...she would be elated beyond measure. The fact that you two never even got a chance to meet your children, let alone see them get married and have children of their own...I still don't understand why that had to be so, and I doubt I ever will," she sighed. At that moment, a shooting star streaked past the window. Sylvia smiled and blew a kiss towards the sky. "I love you, too," she whispered as her eyelids grew heavy.

**WWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW **

It seemed to Sylvia as though only a few minutes had gone by when she groggily blinked her eyes open. But the fact that sunlight (and not the newly-risen type, either!) was streaming through the window quickly told her otherwise. And a gentle, familiar voice alerted her to the fact that she was no longer the only person in the room. "You have great timing! I was just about to wake you up!" Nora Bucket observed. "Hey, Nora. How late it is it?" Sylvia asked, not wanting to beat around the bush. "Ten o'clock," Nora informed her. The baker's eyes widened. "I guess I must have been more tired than I thought!" she remarked.

"Hey, consider yourself lucky. Because you overslept, you got to skip stirrup duty," Nora quipped. "Let me guess. Sally returned while I was sleeping and checked Ronnie again," Sylvia chuckled. "Yes to both. From what I understand, Willy and Ronnie both woke up fairly early, Ronnie because her contractions had become more intense and Willy because her movements woke him. They called Sally pretty much right away, and she arrived around the same time I woke up," Nora explained. "So how is she holding up?" Sylvia asked (knowing that Nora would understand who she meant by "she") as she stood up and stretched.

"Pretty well considering. Sally determined that she dilated to four centimeters during the night, so she's pretty excited about that. Her contractions HAVE gotten stronger as I said, though. They're also coming closer together, around every five minutes. So she's finding labor a bit more difficult than yesterday," Nora told her friend. "At least she's got a loving husband to help her through it, though," Sylvia said wistfully as the two women left the nursery. "Indeed. When I left the room to go find you, they were doing breathing exercises to..." the scene that met Nora's eyes as she and Sylvia arrived at doorway to the confectionery couple's bedroom made her stop in mid-sentence (the last word of which, of course, was supposed to be "together").

Willy was standing near the bed, rubbing his wife's back as she leaned against him, her eyes closed and her arms wrapped securely around him. And rather than standing still, the couple were swaying gently back and forth. Then Ronnie's grip around her husband tightened and she began taking deep breaths. "That's it, sweetheart. Just breathe. Don't focus on the pain, just relax and breathe," the confectioner coached her, his voice gentle and encouraging. Almost without thinking about it, Sylvia reached into her pocket, pulled out her camera, and snapped a picture (making sure that the flash was turned off first so she wouldn't disturb Willy and Ronnie!).

"I see you finally got up, mom," Ronnie said teasingly as she turned her head towards the two women standing in the doorway. "So much for being discreet!" Sylvia thought as she slipped the camera back into her pocket. "That I did. And I hear that quite a bit happened while I was asleep," she told her daughter. Ronnie grinned. "That's for sure. As Nora's probably already told you, I'm finally in active labor!" she said happily. Sylvia had to stifle a giggle. "Why do I get the feeling that enthusiasm is going to be very short-lived?!" she thought. "It IS a bit more challenging than early labor, but so far it's not unbearable. Painful, but not unbearable," Ronnie said when she saw the expression on her mother's face.

"And she's managing and coping with that pain fantastically!" Willy spoke up. "You mean I'm being coached through it fantastically," Ronnie countered. "Thanks, but I'm not doing THAT much. Basically I'm just reminding you to breathe and stuff like that. You're the one who's doing all the work, and I stand by what I said," her husband insisted. "And I stand by what _I _said. I'll concede that I'm the one doing the work, but having a loving, supportive husband definitely makes it a lot easier," Ronnie playfully retorted. "Either way, I do believe there's another piece of good news that we haven't told your mother yet," Willy responded, tenderly pressing his lips to his wife's.

"Really? And what might that be?" Sylvia asked, sounding curious and eager. "Oh, nothing much. Just that after checking my progress earlier this morning and noting the rate things have been happening, Sally said she thinks that, at this point, it looks as though I'll deliver by this evening!" Ronnie exclaimed gleefully, her lips stretched in an ear-to-ear grin. "It's too bad you were asleep, Sylvia. You missed seeing two of the most excited people on the planet!" Nora put in. "What can we say? We've been waiting for our baby for eight very long months, and that's more than long enough!" Willy quipped.

"And that wait will be well worth it, believe me. When Charlie was born, James and I spent probably a good hour or two just staring at him, unable to believe that we'd actually created something so beautiful and perfect," Nora said. "I felt pretty much the same when you were born, Ronnie. I was a bit more extreme about how I expressed, it though, as I barely let you leave my arms for your first twenty-four hours of life! The nurses practically had to pry you away from me whenever they needed to do procedures or check-ups on you!" Sylvia chuckled.

"That's why I'm very glad Ronnie and I very clearly stipulated in our birth plan that one of us will be holding the baby or at least be right there with her during the newborn exams," Willy replied, a light, joking tone in his voice. "Oh, forget the newborn exams! I just want to meet our child already!" Ronnie burst out. "I know, buttercup. I want to meet her, too, and soon enough, we will. For now you need to keep focusing on breathing and staying relaxed. Getting anxious and tense will only make things worse, and we certainly don't want that," Willy said soothingly. "I suppose you're right. Watching the clock definitely isn't going to make evening come any faster," Ronnie conceded, just before her body was gripped by yet another contraction.

**WWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW **

Despite Ronnie's initial thoughts to the contrary, the remainder of the morning and afternoon passed relatively quickly. Ironically, however, that knowledge didn't make her happy. Instead, she was frustrated and barely keeping herself together. Not only had the baby proved Sally's prediction of him or her arriving by the evening wrong, but but yet another pelvic exam by the diminutive doctor had confirmed the expectant mother's worst fears: Her progress since that morning had been rather slow, and consequently she had only dilated two more centimeters.

Her pain, on the other hand, had increased much more dramatically...and not just because her contractions had become more intense. Much to Ronnie's dismay, the pain that had initially been only occurring in her abdominal area during contractions was now occurring in her back as well (the more than likely result, Sally had informed of her, of the baby descending further into her pelvis in preparation for being born). And unlike the intensifying but intermittent abdominal spasms, the agony in the female Wonka's back was pretty much constant (albeit slightly weaker between contractions!).

With Ronnie more desperate for relief than she had thought possible, she and Willy had tried every pain relief technique and exercise from their books and videos that they could remember. This included various breathing exercises, sitting, lying, and standing (and sometimes some combination of the three!) in several different positions, taking a trip to the nursery to rock in the rocking chair, and Willy performing various types of massages (firm pressure, light pressure, off to each side of Ronnie's back, in the middle, and just about anything else you could think of!). But none of those things did much more than offer a couple minutes worth of relief.

This, as you can probably imagine, left the laboring mother tired, crabby, and just about at the end of her rope. Frustrated and about ready to give up and just let the pain do what it wanted, she was straddling a chair, her chin resting on top of the back. In order to make the environment as calm and soothing to the mother of his child as possible, Willy had dimmed the lights (it was funny, he thought, how one could suddenly be so grateful for something as simple as a dimmer switch!) and popped a special relaxation CD (which the couple had purchased upon realizing that listening to calming music or "white noise" type sounds was one of the coping techniques most often suggested by their books and videos) into the stereo.

The chocolatier had also prepared a cold compress for his wife's forehead and encouraged her to try to think about something other than the back pain, preferably something relaxing and positive. Unfortunately, however, this was quickly proving to be the least effective of the pain relief strategies the couple had tried. "It's hopeless! It's absolutely hopeless! Relaxing doesn't work when you have the world's worst back ache, and this darn cold pack isn't doing anything except keep me from breaking into a sweat! At this rate, it's going to be a miracle if I have any energy or strength left to actually push this kid out!" Ronnie declared, her voice laced with anxiety and exasperation.

"You're going to do just fine, dear. No matter how exhausted, physically or otherwise, you are when it finally comes time to deliver, your body will do what it has to do," Sylvia assured her daughter. "Considering my body hasn't exactly been super cooperative thus far, I have a hard time believing that," Ronnie sighed. Willy felt awful for his wife. As strong as she'd appeared until now, he had a sneaking suspicion that the pain was wearing on her a lot more than she was letting on. "I just wish there was something I could do that would actually take the edge off the pain for more than two minutes! I mean, there's got to be SOMETHING we haven't tried yet!" he silently lamented.

Though he thought it was pretty pointless (especially considering that he and Ronnie had already quite literally tried just about every trick in the book!), the confectioner proceeded to go through a mental list of all the labor management techniques he knew. Then, just as he was deciding that he was right about it being a waste of time, he remembered one he'd previously overlooked. "Bonbon, how would you feel about about trying a little hydrotherapy?" he asked his beloved. "Hydrotherapy?" Ronnie repeated, sounding confused. "Yeah, you know, using water for pain relief," Willy explained. "Oh, right, that. I suppose it can't hurt," Ronnie replied (feeling rather embarrassed that she'd actually had to have her husband define the word for her!). "Then let's head for the bathroom," Willy said, leading the way to the aforementioned room.

**WWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW **

Although she had tried to appear enthusiastic for his sake, Ronnie hadn't been at all optimistic that her husband's plan was going to work. After all, if even his "magical" (as she liked to refer to them) massages couldn't relieve the intense ache in her back, what hope was there that something as simple as water would? "Why am I even bothering?" she thought as her husband fiddled with the water temperature, sticking his wrist into the flow to test it after each adjustment. "Okay, ready?" the candy maker asked once he was satisfied. "I guess so," Ronnie said as they stepped into the shower.

To the female Wonka's absolute shock and amazement, the warm water began soothing her troubled back almost instantly. "Finally, sweet relief!" she sighed happily. "I could tell. You're smiling for the first time since this afternoon," Willy said, gazing tenderly at his wife. Rather than say anything, Ronnie gave another contented sigh and leaned against her husband (partly so that she would have adequate support during contractions, and partly because she just plain wanted to!), resting her head on his chest (being a good four inches shorter than him, she couldn't quite reach his shoulder).

Much to her delight, the confectioner responded by rubbing her back, quickly turning her feelings of relief into sheer ecstasy. "This is heavenly!" she moaned. Willy grinned. "I knew you were going to love this," he said. "Where did you learn this technique, anyway? I don't remember seeing it in any of our books or videos," Ronnie inquired. "In an informational and instructional video for expectantcc fathers who plan to coach their wives through childbirth. I watched it when you were having tea at your mom's one afternoon," Willy replied, his grin growing even bigger.

"Your daddy is even more dedicated to helping me bring you into the world than I thought!" Ronnie gushed to her belly, addressing it for the first time since she'd gone into labor. "I told you I was going to do whatever I could to make the delivery of our child as easy on you as possible, and I meant every word," the chocolatier said firmly, emphasizing his point by gently cupping his wife's chin in his hand and guiding her lips toward his until they met in a passionate kiss. "You make me feel like the luckiest woman alive," Ronnie murmured, tenderly stroking her husband's cheek.

"And you make me feel like the luckiest man alive," Willy murmured back, his voice soft and loving. As if on cue, his wife's grip on him tightened, and he could feel her abdomen tense up in an all-too familiar way. Smiling at the fact that his words apparently had the littlest Wonka's seal of approval, he wrapped his arms securely around his beloved and began slowly rocking back and forth until (just as they had been that morning) they were effectively slow dancing. "Of all the things I imagined labor could be, romantic wasn't among them. I'm glad I was wrong," Ronnie sighed happily once the contraction had subsided. "Me, too," her husband said, leaning his head down and kissing her once again.

Neither Wonka felt like saying much after that, so they lapsed into silence for the next several minutes. Occasionally one would kiss or caress the other, but mostly they just held each other and "slow danced", with Willy almost continuously massaging his wife's back. All too soon, however, the water began to get cold and they reluctantly turned it off, got out of the shower, and began drying off. Or, more accurately, Willy did. Ronnie, on the other hand, found her body seized by another contraction just as she was reaching for a towel. And unlike her other contractions, this one was accompanied by something hadn't been anticipating: a leak of fluid from within her.

Thinking she had wet herself, the mortified mother-to-be reached over to grab some toilet paper to mop up the mess...only to have the movement trigger the release of even MORE fluid, this time in a huge gush. Ronnie's eyes went wide as she realized that the warm liquid had come not from her bladder, but from her womb. "My water just broke!" she excitedly told her husband, feeling like an absolute idiot the second the words were out of her mouth. "Like he hadn't already figured that out for himself! What do I think he is, blind?!" she mentally scolded herself. Luckily, Willy didn't seem to mind his wife stating the obvious. "So it has. I suppose we'd better head back into the bedroom so we can report it to Sally," he said sounding just as excited as Ronnie had.

**WWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW **

Considering what had happened the night before when they'd been out of the room (and even after they'd returned, for that matter!), Willy and Ronnie fully anticipated to be greeted by Nora, Sylvia, and Sally trading humorous labor stories upon their emergence from the bathroom. Instead, they were greeted by Nora, Sylvia, and Sally wearing rather amused expressions and clearly trying not to laugh. "What is so funny?" Ronnie asked. "Nothing much, just that we didn't realize you were going to be so enthusiastic about your water breaking," Sylvia replied, snorting from the laughter that was coming dangerously close to exploding out of her.

Ronnie blushed. "I guess I was louder about announcing that to Willy than I thought," she said sheepishly. "Yes, you were. But don't worry, we rather enjoyed it. It was nice to hear you so happy after all your frustration with your back pain," Nora told her. "It's not just that we're getting a kick out of, though. I don't mean to embarrass you, Mr. Wonka, but I think you forgot something," Sally said, appearing to be trying hard not to look at the chocolatier's chest. Puzzled by Sally's rather odd behavior, Willy looked down at his upper torso. Only then did he realize that, in all the excitement of his wife's labor making very visible progress, he'd neglected to put his shirt back on!

"I'll just go take care of that right now," the confectioner muttered, his face beet red as he practically flew back into the bathroom (thanking his lucky stars that he'd at least been dressed from the waist down before getting distracted by his wife turning into a geyser!). "I wish I could crawl into a hole and stay there!" he lamented to himself as he grabbed his shirt from the back of the door (nearly embarrassing himself even further in the process by tripping over the pile of towels he and Ronnie had hastily put down to soak up the giant puddle on the floor!) and put it on. "Now please, tell me they'll..."

The candy maker's latest thought was interrupted by a loud, painful moan coming from the other side of the door. His embarrassment over the shirt incident (and pretty much the entire incident itself) instantly forgotten, he hurried back into the bedroom to find that the mood had changed drastically. Instead of being practically in hysterics, Sylvia, Nora, and Sally looked concerned and sympathetic (with Sylvia even appearing to be holding back tears). Ronnie, meanwhile, was on the bed, rocking back and forth on her hands and knees. The smile that had been on her face when Willy had left the room was now gone, replaced by an expression of sheer frustration, pain, and something else that her husband couldn't quit identify.

Then, before the chocolatier had a chance to take so much as one step toward her, his wife gagged, leaned over the edge of the bed, and threw up all over the floor. "Just when I thought I couldn't humiliate myself any further," she moaned, sounding close to tears. "No need to be ashamed, dear. Vomiting is a perfectly normal part of transition, and it's certainly not like I've never seen it before," Sally soothed her. "She's absolutely right. And if it makes you feel any better, the exact same thing happened to me while I was in labor with you," Sylvia said reassuringly, going over to the bed and hugging her daughter.

As soon as she was done, Willy climbed onto the bed (careful to avoid accidentally stepping in the puddle of spew as he did so) and put his arm around his beloved. "It's okay, sweetheart, it's okay," he said soothingly. Hoping to offer even more comfort, he leaned into give his wife a kiss...only to have her angrily push him away. "This is all your fault!" she shouted. "What do you mean, my fault?" Willy asked, the female Wonka's actions leaving him utterly bewildered. "I mean that if you hadn't gone and gotten me pregnant, I wouldn't be going through this hell right now! I'm going to effin castrate you!" Ronnie yelled.

Not sure what to do, the confectioner looked at Sally and Sylvia (Nora, who had left briefly to get cleaning supplies, was busy taking care of the mess on the floor), silently asking them for help. "Don't take it personally, Mr. Wonka. As I said before, she's in transition right now, dilating those last three centimeters, which tends to be the most trying and difficult part of labor. And just like vomiting, yelling, unpleasant as it is, is a normal part of that," Sally told him. "Particularly, as James would tell you, yelling at husbands!" Nora added, chuckling a bit as she finished the rather disgusting task she'd assigned herself. "Okay, that explains why she's acting like a completely different person...but it doesn't tell me how to help her without getting my head bitten off!" Willy thought.

As it turned out, that was a dilemma the confectioner didn't have to solve. Ronnie, who had been pretty much oblivious to the conversation going on around her, was suddenly feeling a copious amount of pressure between her legs, pressure that demanded to be relieved in the only way possible. "I'm going to push!" she announced. "I hate to have to say this, but don't do it yet. I need to check you and make sure you're 'complete' before I can give the green light," Sally said. Ronnie was not amused. "I don't think you understand! This baby is coming out, NOW!" she yelled.

With that, the laboring mother grabbed the headboard of the bed, pulled herself into a half-squatting, half-kneeling position, and pushed with all her might. Much to her surprise, it barely hurt at all. In fact, it actually felt so good that she burst out laughing! No longer feeling nervous, she pushed a second time, and then a third. The baby's head emerged during the fourth, and with the fifth one, Ronnie felt her child's body leaving hers. Approximately two seconds later, the room was filled with what, to the new mother, was the most beautiful sound in the word: a tiny, yet loud, "WAAAAAAAAAH!"

* * *

><p><strong>An: **Okay, that has got to be the most evil cliffhanger I've done yet! I'll try not to keep you guys waiting too long for the next chapter, I promise!

**Chapter 22 Preview: **We (along with Willy and Ronnie!) finally meet Baby Wonka, Dr. Wonka has a very emotional first meeting with his grandchild...and we discover something very touching about the factory family's newest member's birthday!


	22. Chapter 22: Stolen Hearts

**Disclaimer: **Only Baby Wonka belongs to me!

**A/n: **Okay, two things about this latest chapter. First of all, I inadverently lied a bit in my summary of this chapter at the end of the previous one. Dr Wonka does NOT meet his new grandchild in this chapter. Part of that is because I thought the chapter was long enough with everything that IS in it, and part of it is because I decided I wanted to do a bit more with that meeting than I had initially planned. The second thing I wanted to mention is that I apologize for taking so darn long to get this chapter out. I had a few episodes of writer's block, and on top of that my computer managed to get infected with not one but TWO viruses within about the same amount of weeks. And of course, both were varities that pretty much completely disable your computer AND require a tech support person to remove. So I was basically without a computer for a couple days each time. But anyway, at least I've finally got the chapter up now! A big thank you to my one reviewer as always, and you know I'll be extremely happy if you keep them coming! ;)

* * *

><p>To say that the littlest Wonka's first cries filled everyone in the room with emotion would be an understatement. "You did it! Now you finally get to have the title you bestowed upon me almost thirty-seven years ago," Sylvia whispered proudly as she helped her exhausted daughter turn over and lie down, her eyes more than a little moist. Ronnie smiled and squeezed her mother's hand in response. Then she turned her head slightly and looked toward the side of her bed, fully expecting to see Nora standing there holding the baby (after all, if Sylvia hadn't caught him or her, then common sense would dictate that it was the matriarch of the Bucket clan that had assisted with the delivery!). Instead, her eyes were met with the most heart-warming scene she had ever witnessed.<p>

The baby was being held by her bedside all right, but the person who was cradling him or her wasn't Nora. It was Willy...and tears were streaming down his face as he gazed tenderly at the precious little bundle in his arms. "Hello, sweetheart, hello," he cooed, lovingly caressing his child. As if in response, a tiny hand curled around his finger. "That's a strong grip for someone so little!" Willy told the baby, his voice softer and tenderer than Ronnie had ever heard it. "I think someone has stolen their daddy's heart," she mused to no one in particular, her eyes now matching her husband's and mother's. Smiling, the confectioner switched his emotional gaze from his baby to his wife. "Indeed she has," he breathed.

At first, Ronnie didn't think anything of the pronoun the candy maker had used to refer to their baby. He had, after all, referred to the aforementioned person in the feminine sense from practically the moment the couple had learned of the pregnancy (and, consequently, the female Wonka had become so used to it that she quickly stopped noticing it!). Then it hit her. "So our little gumdrop is a girl?" she asked. Looking even tearier than before, the chocolatier nodded...and caught his wife completely off-guard by proclaiming, "The best birthday present I've ever gotten!"

"The best birthday present? You mean..." Ronnie started to say, her eyes going wide as she realized what her husband's words meant. "Yes. Our little lady arrived at 12:12 a.m. July 16th," Willy confirmed, his voice wobbling dangerously. "So that's why she was so reluctant to be born and put me through such a long labor! She wanted to share her birthday with her daddy!" Ronnie (whose eyes, needless to say, now resembled Niagara Falls!) marveled. "It would definitely appear that way," the extremely emotional confectioner murmured. "And how fitting that it was you who ushered her into the world!" Nora spoke up.

"You caught her?" Ronnie asked her husband, so filled with emotion that she was barely able to choke out the words. Willy smiled and nodded. "I'm not sure what made me decide to do it, but it was the happiest, proudest moment of my life so far," he declared. Ronnie smiled back. "And you thought you weren't going to be able to even WATCH the birth," she couldn't resist saying. "What can I say? I was too stupid to realize that the arrival of one's child is the most beautiful thing on the planet," Willy whispered tenderly, squatting down to his wife's level (he was afraid he might hurt the baby if he leaned over) and kissing her forehead.

For once, however, Ronnie barely noticed her husband's romantic gesture. She was too busy staring in awe at their daughter, whom the candy maker's squatting was finally allowing her to see properly (a bundle of blankets was pretty much all that had been visible when he'd been standing). The little girl was, the new mother thought, the most precious, beautiful creature she'd ever seen. She had blue eyes, dark, wispy curls, and such tiny, delicate, perfect fingers that Ronnie could scarcely believe they were real. Perhaps the most touching of all, however, was who she resembled. "You look just like your daddy!" she crooned.

"No, she looks just like her mommy!" Willy playfully countered. "She's a perfect mix of both of you," Sylvia (who had seen the baby as she'd stepped away from Ronnie's bedside after helping her lie down) offered diplomatically. "Our perfect little creation," Willy murmured (like Ronnie, he had pretty much stopped listening to his mother-in-law after she uttered the aforementioned adjective!). "Whom I'm beginning to wonder if you'll ever let me hold!" Ronnie teased him. As if to show her agreement with that statement, the baby began to whimper and making sucking motions. "You're trying to tell us that you're hungry, aren't you?" Willy cooed to her.

Ronnie grinned. "I'd say that's a pretty good bet," she said as she unbuttoned the top of her nightgown and slipped the shoulder straps down to free her chest. "Then I suppose I'd better let you eat," the chocolatier tenderly told his daughter, gently placing her in her mother's arms. Not even five minutes later (after significantly less maneuvering, experimenting with positions, and just good old-fashioned trial and error than Ronnie had anticipated) , the littlest Wonka was enjoying her very first meal. With her needs taken care of for the time being, her parents allowed themselves to focus on making what is perhaps the biggest decision a set of new parents can make.

"What should we name her?" Ronnie asked her husband. "Good question, and to be perfectly honest I don't really know. I've thought of several different possibilities ever since we first discussed it in May, but none of them feels 'right' to me," the confectioner replied. "I know what you mean. I've been having the exact same problem. The fact that there aren't a whole lot of names out there that sound good with both of the middle names we've chosen AND our last name doesn't exactly help, either," Ronnie agreed. "That's for sure!" Willy thought as he studied the baby, hoping desperately that she would somehow suggest her name to him.

"She's so tiny and delicate, just like a little flower," he silently observed. Then, without really knowing why, he looked up...and found himself gazing directly at his and Ronnie's favorite of their wedding portraits, which was hanging above their bed. It showed the happy couple sharing their first kiss as husband and wife. True to their unique personalities, neither of them was wearing the most traditional of outfits. Willy had on a black suit (of which a tailcoat was the main piece) rather than a tuxedo, and Ronnie was wearing a dress that was purple rather than white. But not just any shade of purple. It was a shade that shared its name with a flower. And that name, Willy suddenly knew, was perfect for their daughter.

"How about Lavender?" he suggested, crossing his fingers that his wife would like the name as much as he did. "Lavender Wilhelmina Wells Wonka...it's unique yet easy to spell like we wanted, has a lovely ring to it, and more importantly it just seems to fit her somehow. I can't see any reason for that NOT to be our daughter's name," Ronnie responded. "Did you hear that, my little flower? You finally have a name, and it's Lavender!" Willy gushed to the baby, sounding almost as giddy as he had when Ronnie had called him to announce that she was in labor. "And a new nickname, by the sounds of it," Ronnie said, smiling tenderly at her husband.

"Well, you can't very well expect me to have a daughter named Lavender and NOT call her my little flower, can you?!" Willy playfully inquired. The question was rhetorical, naturally, but Lavender apparently didn't think so...as she picked that moment to finish eating and let out a tiny, high-pitched squeak. "You like that nickname, don't you?" the chocolatier chuckled delightedly. Then he put a towel (an unused leftover from the birthing supplies he and Ronnie had set aside) over his shoulder, picked up his daughter, and began patting her back. After a few minutes of this, as you can probably guess, Lavender gave a tiny burp.

"Atta girl!" her father lovingly praised her, delicately wiping her chin to get rid of the little bit of spit-up that had dribbled out of her mouth. Ronnie smiled as she watched the rather touching scene in front of her. "I don't know why you were so worried that you weren't going to be a good father! You're a natural!" she told her husband. The confectioner's cheeks turned bright red. "Thanks, but considering she's not even two hours old yet, I think it's a bit early to be making such bold proclamations about my parenting..." his sentence was cut short by a loud wail from his daughter. And knowing what newborns tend to do shortly after feeding, he had a pretty good hunch as to why. "Excuse us for a few minutes," he said as he carried Lavender out of the room.

Ronnie's heart melted (for what felt like at least the ten millionth time since she'd given birth!) as she watched them leave. "Willy, I don't care what you say or think. Lavender has the best daddy any baby could ask for," she thought, her smile so big she was certain the corners of her mouth were touching her ears. Almost before she was finished making it, her private declaration was reinforced by sounds coming from the nursery; specifically, the sounds of her husband cooing and singing to their child. And while she couldn't catch EVERY word, those that DID successfully reach her ears (among them "So sweet and clean!" and bits of a lullaby involving candy flowers...which the female Wonka was fairly certain had the confectioner had made up on the spot!) made her eyes well up yet again.

And just when she thought she couldn't possibly get any sappier, Willy and Lavender returned. The latter was snuggled against the former's shoulder, just as she had been when they had left the room. But there were two very important differences. Lavender was wearing the outfit Nora and the grandmothers had made for her instead of being simply wrapped in blankets...and she was fast asleep! "Daddy's little girl!" Ronnie whispered to no one in particular, her voice full of emotion. In response, her husband smiled proudly...and then promptly proceeded to let out a huge yawn! The new mother couldn't help but laugh. "Hey, if anyone's going to be yawning around here, it should be..." as if on cue, her sentence was interrupted by her body doing the very thing she had just spoken of!

"I think that's a sign that we'd better follow Lavender's example and try to get some sleep," Willy said, wearily rubbing his eyes. Suddenly more exhausted than she had thought possible, Ronnie nodded, then turned to her mother, doctor, and friend. "That goes for you guys, too," she said firmly (or at least as firmly as she could manage while fighting to keep her eyes open!). "You're sure you don't need us for anything?" Nora asked, not sounding convinced. "Yes. We'll be fine," Willy assured her. "There's not really much more we can do for them right now anyway," Sally added. "And I'll be spending what's left of the night here at the apartment with them. If anything DOES come up, I can handle it or call Sally if necessary," Sylvia pointed out.

"You do have a point there. All right, I'll say goodnight," Nora conceded. "Goodnight, Nora," Willy and Ronnie said together. "I bid you goodnight also. I'll call you in the morning to check on how things are going and make arrangements for postpartum and newborn exams," Sally informed the couple as she followed the Bucket matriarch out of the room. Without thinking, Willy nodded at her turned back. Then, almost immediately realizing his error, he flushed red and clapped his hand to his forehead. "I can't believe I just did that!" he muttered.

"Willy, it's all right. You've just helped your wife through nearly two straight days of labor and become a father for the first time. I'd be a little alarmed if you WEREN'T quite tired and making silly mistakes!" Sylvia assured her son-in-law. "I suppose you're right," Willy replied, his tone making it clear that he still felt rather foolish. "Of course I am!" Sylvia said playfully, hoping to cheer the confectioner up. "I suppose we really ought to change the sheets, considering they're covered with the by-products of childbirth. Not to mention the fact that I should probably at least try to use the bathroom before I turn in," Ronnie spoke up, sounding less than enthusiastic.

"Make sure you put on a pad while you're in there. The 'by-products of childbirth', as you called them, don't stop coming out once the baby has been born, unfortunately. As unpleasant as it is, you're basically going to be having the heaviest period of your life for the next couple of days," Sylvia warned her daughter. "Lovely, just lovely!" Ronnie groaned as she got up. "I know, I know. It's not fun, but it's life," Sylvia said. "Oh well, no use crying over spilled milk I guess. I'll go do what needs to be done and then tackle the sheets," Ronnie said. "Correction: You'll go do what needs to be done while _I _tackle the sheets," Sylvia said firmly.

Far too tired to argue, Ronnie stumbled toward the bathroom. A few minutes later (having been pleasantly surprised to find that her fears about having difficulty relieving herself- or possibly not being able to do so at all and having to be catheterized- were unfounded) she returned...and smiled when she saw just how seriously her mother had taken her self-appointed task. "You put lavender sheets on the bed!" she observed. Sylvia smiled back. "Of course! I couldn't very well use any other color to honor my granddaughter's arrival, could I?!" Sylvia replied. "Well thank you, I'm very touched," Ronnie said as she walked over to her husband and gently moved their daughter from his arms to hers.

Grateful that his wife had understood his wishes without his even having to say a word, the exhausted chocolatier smiled appreciatively at her as he collected his pjs. Then he entered the room Ronnie had just exited and, despite his sleep-deprived state, hummed while he got undressed for bed. "I can't believe I'm finally a father!" he thought as he slipped into his nightclothes. After brushing his teeth, he headed back into the bedroom...where his eyes were met with what was easily the most beautiful, touching sight he had ever witnessed.

Lavender, still sound asleep, was lying in her bassinet (which had been moved next to Ronnie's side of the bed), sucking her thumb and looking peaceful and content. Ronnie, meanwhile, had also fallen asleep...with a smile on her face and her hand on her daughter's back! "My girls, my beautiful girls!" Willy thought as he climbed into bed beside his wife. His eyes every bit as misty as they had been when his baby girl had first slid into his arms, he leaned over and gave his first beloved a kiss. "You did a great job bringing our little one into the world, and you should be proud of yourself," he whispered, gently running his hand through her hair. Then he curled his body protectively around hers...and promptly followed her and their daughter into dreamland.

**WWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW **

Before becoming parents, Willy and Ronnie had enjoyed being woken by the rays of the morning sun and then having a nice, long cuddle while they prepared to face the day. But on their first morning as mom and dad, it became clear that those days were over when their wake-up call came in the form of a sound instead: A loud, hungry, "WAAAAAAAAAAAAH!" Almost automatically, Ronnie wearily undid her nightgown, lifted her wailing daughter out of the bassinet, and began giving her her breakfast.

Willy, meanwhile, was struggling to keep his eyes open. Whereas his wife had manged to get at least a few hours of sleep, he had gotten roughly one and a half...and most of that had occurred prior to Lavender's waking to feed around three a.m. The chocolatier had burped and changed her once her tummy was full, just as he had done after her first feeding a few hours earlier. This time, however, the baby girl had decided that it would be fun to fight her father's efforts to put her to sleep. As a result, the candy maker had spent most of what little was left of the night in the rocking chair, gently rubbing his daughter's back and singing to her in an attempt to get her to submit to slumber once more.

"I don't think I've felt this exhausted since back when I was crazy enough to pull all-nighters in the Inventing Room!" Willy silently mused. Or at least that's what he thought until his wife chuckled softly, shook her head, and said, "You actually used to do that? Why am I not surprised?!" Instead of feeling embarrassed or annoyed, however, the new father felt guilty. "She just went through nearly two days of labor, putting her body through the ringer and then some in the process, and _I'm _complaining about being exhausted?! Way to be empathetic!" he mentally scolded himself.

Eager to remedy that, he turned to his wife and asked, "And how are YOU feeling this morning?" "Aside from pretty much all my innards from the waist down feeling like they've been tossed into a meat grinder, my privates as though someone took sandpaper to them, and my brain as though it's been awake for a week, just fine," Ronnie replied. "At least your sense of humor is still intact," her husband replied as he leaned over and tenderly kissed her cheek (he would have preferred to plant it square on her lips, but didn't trust his ability to do so without accidentally squashing Lavender).

Before Ronnie could respond, Lavender finished eating. Without missing a beat, Willy picked her up, rested her head against his shoulder (which he'd already covered with a spit-up rag in anticipation of the end of the feeding), and gently patted her back as he carried her out of the room. Apparently just as worn out as her father from her night of rejecting sleep, the baby girl's eyes were already drooping when the duo arrived in her nursery. And by the time the elder Wonka had finished changing her, she was out cold. Smiling tenderly at his daughter, the confectioner carried her back to the bedroom and laid her in her bassinet. Then he climbed into bed beside his wife...and within approximately five seconds, all three members of the newly expanded Wonka family were once again fast asleep!

* * *

><p><strong>An: **I hope you enjoyed reading this chapter! I sure enjoyed writing it...which is why it makes me sad to say that it is the second-to-last "regular" chapter of this story. The next chapter will be the last, and then there will be an epilogue. Hopefully you'll enjoy them, too! :)

**Chapter 23 Preview: **Meeting his granddaughter (for real this time, I promise!) stirs lots of emotions in Dr. Wonka and gives him the courage to do a certain something that he'd been considering for a long time. Meanwhile, recovering from childbirth proves to be anything but easy for Ronnie!


	23. Chapter 23: The Ties That Bind

**Disclaimer: **I only own Lavender!

**A/n: **Okay, before I say anything else, I want to apologize for taking so darned long to get this chapter out! Part of the delay was due to the holidays, but most of it was, I'll admit, because I don't want this story to end any more than you guys do (so in otherwords, I purposely wrote a good chunk of this chapter slowly!)! But anyway, here it is, finally, and I hope you enjoy! Thanks go to my one reviewer as always, and please keep 'em coming!

* * *

><p>Willy and Ronnie had fully expected their latest snooze to be another short one. They knew they'd be awoken in around two hours by Lavender letting them know she was ready for her next meal. But as it turned out, they were wrong. They were awoken within two hours...by their daughter and a camera flash. "Mom, was that really necessary?" Ronnie groaned as she blinked her eyes open (with Sylvia being the only other person in the apartment, it hadn't exactly been difficult for her daughter to guess who was behind the camera!).<p>

"Of course! You didn't expect me NOT to capture such a tender scene on film, did you?!" Sylvia replied mischievously. Ronnie rolled her eyes. "If she seriously thinks that the image of me asleep less than eight hours after giving birth and therefore looking like something out of a horror movie is tender, she needs to get her eyes checked!" she thought. Before she could say anything more to her mother about the matter, however, the elder woman changed the subject (much to her relief!). "You didn't exactly have the easiest first night as a family of three, I take it," she said.

"You can say that again! Lavender woke up around three to feed...and then she decided she wanted to stay up. I DID eventually get her to drift off, but not until I'd tried pretty much every trick I could think of several times," Willy replied, ending his sentence with a yawn. "That's not surprising. Since night and day are pretty much the same in utero, it takes babies awhile to differentiate between the two once they're born. And of course having such a small stomach and therefore needing to feed frequently doesn't exactly help matters either!" Sylvia said, stifling a giggle.

"Speaking of which, I didn't realize just how exhausting being a milk bar every two hours or so was going to be!" Ronnie put in. "Especially when you're still perfecting your technique and recovering from childbirth," Sylvia replied knowingly, her voice full of love and sympathy. Then, realizing that she'd completely neglected to inquire as to how the latter was going for her only child, she asked, "By the way, how are you feeling physically?" "Like I've just run a marathon. Not to mention incredibly raw and swollen below the belt," Ronnie replied.

"That's to be expected, unfortunately. Your poor body has just gone through nine months of stretching and otherwise adapting to nurture a rapidly growing baby, followed by the nearly two day stress of giving birth to that baby. Now it has to put itself back together, and that's going to take some time," Sylvia said gently, reaching over and tenderly brushing her daughter's hair away from her forehead. "That makes sense, I guess," Ronnie murmured. "Don't worry, things WILL get better, I promise. It may take your body awhile to recover, but the worst of it is generally over after the first couple of weeks or so. And there are plenty of things you can do to ease the discomfort in the meantime. Ice packs are your friend, and you'll probably want to stick to either skirts or your baggiest..."

Before Sylvia could finish reassuring her daughter, she was interrupted by the ringing of her phone. "Sorry, Ronnie, but I'd better take this since it's probably Wilbur. I called him an hour or so ago to tell him Lavender has arrived, but he didn't answer so I had to leave a message," she said apologetically as she headed for the hallway. Far from being upset, her daughter smiled. "Somehow it just fits that she's going to be the one to..." Ronnie's silent musing was cut short by her mother loudly and proudly announcing, "We're officially grandparents!"

The new mother only had about two seconds to wonder how her father-in-law had responded... because the next thing Sylvia said was, "Yes, you did!" "He must have asked her if he'd heard her correctly!" Ronnie thought, chuckling softly. After a few more minutes of conversation with the dentist (most of which the female Wonka was unable to hear due to Sylvia apparently realizing how loud she was getting and lowering her voice), the baker returned to the room and inquired of the confectionery couple (though she was looking mainly at Ronnie while she did so!), "Do you feel up to having visitors yet?"

"Dr. Wonka is very eager to meet his granddaughter, I take it," Ronnie replied, her tone light and playful. "Very much so. If it were up to him, he would have been here five minutes ago!" Sylvia laughed. "I'm fine with him stopping by, but to be honest I don't know that I want it to be right this second. I'd like to at least have a chance to hop in the shower and get cleaned up a bit first," Ronnie admitted. "And somebody else will be finishing her breakfast and requiring her own clean-up any second now," Willy pointed out, smiling down at his daughter.

"I had a hunch that's what you'd say," Sylvia said. Then, a thoughtful expression coming over her face, she looked down at her watch. "Would an hour be enough time for you to get ready?" she asked. "It should be, I guess," Ronnie replied, wondering what her mother had up her sleeve. Her equally curious husband nodded his agreement. "Okay then, I think I've got it!" Sylvia declared, promptly turning her attention back to the phone. "They're willing to receive guests, but only after they've had a bit of time to prepare. So I thought we'd have a celebratory brunch at eleven," she told the anxious grandfather on the other end of the line. Moments later she broke into a huge grin, making the dentist's answer obvious to his son and daughter-in-law.

**WWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW **

"Why, oh why, did I ever think an hour would possibly enough time for us to get ready?" Ronnie wondered as the doorbell chimed at precisely eleven 'o clock, announcing her father-in-law's arrival. The new mother had figured that it would probably take around a half hour to shower and a maximum of ten minutes to get dressed and brush her hair, leaving her with a good twenty minutes or so to rest before brunch (which Sylvia had insisted on fixing on her own). What she hadn't counted on was virtually nothing cooperating.

The deluge of delays had begun with Lavender deciding to savor her mid-morning meal and taking longer than her parents had anticipated to finish it. Then Sally had called just as Ronnie was about to step into the shower...followed by the female Wonka discovering she had neglected to replace her empty bottle of shampoo (although not what she would have preferred, she ultimately used Willy's), dropping the soap and having to figure out how to pick it up without stressing her lower body even further than it already was, and having a brief "pad emergency" (in her post-birth fog the night before, she had placed the feminine hygiene products in the medicine cabinet rather than the cupboard under the sink where she normally kept them, leaving her temporarily mystified as to their location!).

As you can imagine, all of this meant that Ronnie's opportunity to relax before brunch quickly flew out the window. Instead, she found herself frantically trying to fasten her bra, pull on her shirt, and make a mad dash (which, in actuality, was more of a fast walk due to her condition!) for the door at the same time. "I'm coming, I'm..." upon reaching the front hallway, the new mother stopped in her tracks both physically and verbally. Dr. Wonka, it turned out, had already entered the apartment and was standing in the entryway talking to Sylvia. But that wasn't what made Ronnie come to a halt.

It was the fact that she had entered the "room" just in time to see her mother lean over and plant a kiss on the dentist's cheek. "Awwww!" she whispered before she could stop herself. "It seems we're not alone any more," Sylvia chuckled softly. "It definitely appears that way," Dr. Wonka agreed. Then, addressing his daughter-in-law, he asked, "So where's my new granddaughter?" Ronnie couldn't help but smile at his eagerness as she began to answer his question. "Well, she's..." "Right here!" a very familiar male voice interrupted her.

"Sleeping on her favorite spot!" Ronnie murmured- almost without being aware of it- as she watched her husband step into the hallway, their daughter nestled against his shoulder. "So tiny and precious!" Dr. Wonka breathed. "That she is," Willy whispered lovingly. "I know she's asleep, but may I hold her anyway?" the dentist inquired, his voice soft and full of emotion as he eagerly took a seat on the couch (by this point, the group had moved into the living room). "Of course you may," Willy replied, unable to hide his pride as he placed his little girl in her grandfather's arms.

"Hello, my little angel. I'm your grandpa Wilbur," Dr. Wonka whispered, tears springing to his eyes as he got his first full view of his granddaughter. In response to the noise, Lavender stirred, opened her eyes...and looked directly into those of the dentist! "Those are...those are Willy's eyes. Willy's and..." the senior Wonka was too choked up to continue. "Mina's," Sylvia finished for him, sounding more than a little choked up herself. His tears now streaming freely down his face, Dr. Wonka nodded. "I'm sorry, I don't mean to be spoiling what should be a happy day for everyone," he apologized.

"You're not spoiling the day, and you have no reason to apologize," Sylvia said firmly, shaking her head as she sat down next to her longtime friend (a term which, she had to admit, she was no longer certain fit their relationship!). "Yes, I do, Syl. I should be grateful for the opportunity to hold and get to know our granddaughter, not wallowing in the past!" Dr. Wonka insisted. "Wilbur, you're not wallowing in the past. Today, after all, isn't just the day you became a grandfather. It's also the thirty-seventh anniversary of when you became a father under decidedly bittersweet circumstances. Naturally that's going to trigger some memories," Sylvia said gently, wrapping her arm around the dentist.

"Like the fact that the last time I held a newborn was right after they told me they were taking my wife for emergency surgery to try and stop her hemorrhaging. And then when I saw them return with the chaplain..." once again too choked up to finish, Dr. Wonka let his thought trail off. "You didn't exactly need them to tell you the outcome," Sylvia murmured sympathetically. Sniffling, the dentist shook his head. "No I didn't," he practically whispered. "Wilbur, I've been struggling with the past, too. The first night Ronnie was in labor, I sat in the nursery looking out at the sky and told Henry how much I wish he could have been part of this happy moment, and how I still don't understand why he and Mina had to be taken from this world before they could even so much as meet their children," Sylvia told the dentist.

"All I know is that they sure as heck didn't deserve it," Dr. Wonka muttered, pulling his handkerchief out of his pocket and dabbing at his eyes. Using the arm she had wrapped around him, Sylvia gave him a supportive squeeze. "Of course they didn't. But you know what I realized shortly after my 'talk' with Henry?" she inquired. "What?" the dentist asked. "That the last thing he or Mina would want is for us to be unhappy, especially on a day like this. They would want us to do the same thing they would have: embrace our new status and love and spoil our granddaughter as much as we can!" Sylvia replied.

Dr. Wonka looked thoughtful. "You're right, they wouldn't. But more importantly, Mina wouldn't want me to continue denying what's right in front of my face," he said after several minutes. "What do you mean?" Sylvia asked, looking confused. "I mean that I think it's pretty safe to say that for the past several months, there's been much more than just a friendship going on between us. Yet we keep pretending it isn't, that being anything less than completely platonic would somehow be dishonoring Mina's and Henry's memories. But the fact of the matter is that we are dishonoring them far, far more by thinking they'd actually want us to make such fools out of ourselves," the dentist replied.

With that, he handed Lavender (who had long since gone back to sleep) back to Willy, slid off the couch, and took Sylvia's hand as he got down on bended knee in front of her. "I know this is very sudden, at least in some aspects. But for one thing, I'm tired of being alone. For another, I'm not getting any younger. I'm almost seventy-five, for goodness sake. To put it quite simply, I don't want to spend another second of my life without you. Sylvia Charlotte Wells, will you do me the honor of becoming my wife?" he asked. Tears of happiness filling her eyes, the baker nodded. "Of course I will," she said, just before embracing her fiancé and giving him a passionate kiss.

**WWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW **

For the majority of the "factory family", the first two months following Lavender's birth and Dr. Wonka's impromptu proposal were filled with happiness and joy. Mealtimes at the Buckets were now mostly excuses to dote on the littlest Wonka (with playful arguments often breaking out over whose turn it was to hold her!), with the food being merely an added bonus. Sylvia and Dr. Wonka, meanwhile, spent so much time at the factory that Willy and Ronnie had joked they ought to just move in. And as you can probably guess, the newly-engaged couple spent as much time lavishing attention on each other as they did on their granddaughter.

It wasn't uncommon to see the duo strolling hand-in-hand through the Wintergreen Room (their mutual favorite room in the factory), stopping frequently to "steal" kisses from one another. They also enjoyed sitting (Sylvia typically opting to perch on her fiancé's lap) amidst the forest that was the room's central feature and engaging in a good, old fashioned cuddle. A good, old fashioned cuddle that, much to his fiancée's delight, often brought out Dr. Wonka's normally very well-hidden naughty side (with the baker especially enjoying it when he sneakily copped a feel!)!

But they weren't the only ones in the factory who were smitten. Willy was also head over heels...with his baby girl! For the first time that he could remember, the new father was far more eager to get home in the evenings than he was to head to work (which he had reluctantly returned to after a week-long paternity leave) in the mornings. And whereas his work days had once ended with him feeling frustrated that, yet again, he hadn't accomplished everything he'd wanted to, they now ended with him feeling ecstatic that his glass elevator "commute" was now the only thing that stood between him and his "little flower"!

On a typical evening, that "commute" ended with the confectioner entering his living room and being greeted with what, to him, was now one of the most precious sights in the world: his wife nursing their daughter on the couch. After observing his two favorite girls for a few minutes, the candy maker would go over and kiss both of them hello (Ronnie on her lips, Lavender on her head). This was followed by a "catch up" session with Ronnie while Lavender finished her meal. Once that occurred, it was finally time for what Willy had been waiting for all day: his special daddy-daughter time with his little girl.

This special time, as one might guess, began with the chocolatier burping Lavender. Then he would take her into her nursery, and perform a sort of half diaper change, removing his daughter's dirty diaper but not replacing it with a fresh one. The reason for this was simple: After cleaning the little girl's bottom, he cleaned the rest of her body by giving her a bath. As far as he could tell, Lavender enjoyed the cleansing, appearing to relax the minute he put her into the water. Shortly after her one month birthday, however, his daughter made it clear that, much as she liked the water, she enjoyed another part of bath time even more.

Willy always sang silly songs and rhymes to her while he washed her, and one evening, much to his surprise and delight, she responded to them...by flashing him her first smile! And, just a few weeks later, the raspberries that her father blew on her belly while drying her off elicited a different kind of response: her first laugh. The confectioner, needless to say, was overjoyed and filled with immense pride by both accomplishments. The fact that he could please his daughter so much moved him to tears, and the fact that he could now more actively bond with her made him feel as though he could fly (it also, incidentally, made it even harder for him to tear himself away from his little girl each morning to go to work!)!

At no time was this bonding more evident than during the last part of the pair's nighttime ritual. After drying Lavender off and giving her a baby oil massage (with a special baby oil that he had made himself, naturally!), he would put her pajamas and a fresh diaper on her. Then he would sit in the rocker with her and rock and sing to her until she fell asleep. And rather than put her in her crib as soon as she drifted off (usually to her father's rendition of what was clearly her favorite song: Pure Imagination!), he would stare at her several minutes, listening to her soft, wispy breathing and enjoying the feel of her tiny, warm body against his. There was no doubt about it; the chocolatier was, as they say, on cloud nine.

Unfortunately, the same could not be said about his wife. Much to Ronnie's dismay, Sylvia had been wrong about the worst of her postpartum recovery being over within a couple of weeks. Rather, the second one had been when everything had started to go wrong, beginning with the one tear the new mother had sustained while giving birth becoming infected. Then, just as that was clearing up, she contracted mastitis. And no sooner had she recovered from THAT than she contracted a yeast infection (which Sally had informed her was almost certainly the result of having just completed two back-to-back courses of antibiotics).

But infections and an incredibly itchy groin were far from the only bumps in the road that Ronnie had experienced. She had also been saddled with, among other things, constipation, incontinence (particularly when she laughed, coughed, or sneezed), hemorrhoids, and numerous unpleasant breastfeeding-related issues (including engorgement, leaking, and sore nipples, not to mention her bout with mastitis!). Perhaps the most upsetting issue the female Wonka had been dealing with however, was her emotions. She had expected, naturally, to feel exhausted but elated after the birth. But other than the first couple of days after Lavender's arrival, that hadn't been the case. Instead, her various physical issues had left her feeling exhausted and down. And six weeks after becoming a mother, it finally became too much for her to handle.

**WWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW **

It was a Wednesday evening at the end of September, and Ronnie and Willy were preparing to host a surprise engagement dinner for their parents. They had made last-minute adjustments to the decorations in the Wintergreen Room (it had seemed only natural to them to hold the dinner in their parents' favorite room!), called the Oompa Loompa women (who had graciously agreed to cater the dinner) to check on how the food was coming, showered, and gotten Lavender ready for the evening (or rather, Willy had. In honor of the occasion, he had given her her bedtime bath early and even washed her hair.). Now they were trying to figure out what to wear...which was making Ronnie experience major deja vu!

Just like on New Year's Eve, she was struggling to find something to wear. Only this time it wasn't because things didn't fit her properly in the chest region. It was because things didn't fit her properly period! She HAD managed to find a handful of blouses and skirts that were at least passable, but they n were all from different outfits, rendering them completely useless. Trying on her various dresses discouraged her even further. To say that she found them all extremely unflattering would be an understatement. All they did, in her opinion, was accentuate her pregnancy-ravaged body. Utterly disgusted and fed up, she forcefully threw the dress she was holding onto the floor. "Oh, to hell with it! No matter what I wear I'm going to look like a fat old pig!" she exploded, just before collapsing onto the bed and bursting into tears.

"Hey, don't talk about my buttercup that way!" Willy exclaimed, his expression one of shock and sadness as he walked over to the bed and sat down next to his wife. "Why not? It's the truth! I'm an ugly old mess!" Ronnie retorted bitterly. "You are not!" her husband insisted, wrapping his arm lovingly around her shoulders. "Yes, I am. My stomach is pudgy and flabby and could easily pass for a road map, my breasts leak more than a faucet, and my lady parts are a red, stretched out disaster! If that doesn't qualify as a mess, I'd like to know what does!" Ronnie countered, her voice full of anguish.

Hearing his wife voice her insecurities about her postpartum body made Willy's heart ache, as did the one thing that they and the fact that Ronnie had seemed afraid to let him see her naked ever since she'd given birth made clear to him. "Sweetheart, I told you just before our little flower was born that my feelings towards you weren't going to change because of some stretch marks or other imperfections. The same is true now," he said firmly. "Of course you're saying that! You haven't even seen the half of what giving birth has done to my body!" Ronnie cried disgustedly. "Then I think it's time for that to change," her husband said, his voice soft and gentle.

Without giving her a chance to respond, he reached over and carefully untied her dressing gown. Upon seeing her belly, he smiled. "That's a map all right...a map that shows something far more special than roads. It shows how your body changed over the course of nine months to protect and nourish our daughter," he mused, rubbing the aforementioned body part just as he so often had while preparing for fatherhood. Despite her emotional state, Ronnie couldn't help but smile back. "I'd never thought of it that way before," she admitted."Now you nourish Lavender with your milk, which is reflected in the changes here," the chocolatier continued, resting his hand on his wife's breast.

Seconds later, he moved his hand to his beloved's inner thigh (being careful to avoid the yeast-irritated portions of her skin, of course!), declaring, "And the changes here mark the most challenging, beautiful, wonderful thing your body has ever done: bring our daughter into the world." For the second time in less than ten minutes, tears streamed down Ronnie's face. This time, however, they were tears of happiness. "Thank you, Willy," she said. "For what? I was only stating the truth," Willy inquired. "For proving once again that I have the best husband in the universe!" Ronnie replied, leaning over and giving the candy maker a tender kiss.

Rather than verbally respond to his wife's praise, the confectioner wrapped his arms around her and eagerly returned the kiss. Then, his lips still firmly intertwined with hers, he carefully and gradually shifted his weight until they were both lying on the bed. "I've really missed having couple time like this," Ronnie remarked after a few minutes of silence. Willy grinned. "So have I. As much of a delight as Lavender is, she takes so much of our time and energy that spending more than a few minutes together just the two of us sometimes seems, to me at least, like something that happened in another lifetime," he agreed. "Maybe that's part of the reason I've been so down lately," Ronnie mused.

"You've been feeling down?" Willy parroted, an expression of sadness and concern on his face. "Yes. I knew that recovering from childbirth wasn't exactly going to be a walk in the park, but I didn't anticipate it being quite this challenging. I also expected to feel an immense bond with Lavender the instant I held for the first time, but that didn't happen. And thanks to all my infections and other postpartum issues, it's only been within the last few weeks that I've started to really enjoy her, as horrible of a mother as that makes me sound!" Ronnie confessed, anguish more than evident in her voice by the end of the sentence.

"You are NOT a horrible mother, buttercup. Nor does what you said make you sound like one. You've just been overwhelmed, and, from the sounds of it, expecting way too much of yourself. It's no wonder you seem to have come down with a case of the baby blues," Willy told her, giving her a gentle squeeze. "I suppose you're right," Ronnie conceded, almost automatically relaxing into the cocoon of her husband's body. Then, a smile creeping onto her lips, she added, "As far as I'm concerned, we really need to make a more conscientious effort to spend time alone together like this, even if that means having to schedule it." Willy nodded vigorously and puckered his lips in preparation for a kiss...only to be interrupted by a very familiar "WAAAAAAAAAAAH!" "Preferably WITHOUT the baby in the next room!" he chuckled as he got up to go tend to his daughter.

* * *

><p><strong>An: **Well, folks, this is it, the last regular chapter! As I said in the previous chapter, there will be an epilogue as well. I'm not going to preview it like I have the chapters, though, because I'm not sure I can do it without spoiling anything (rest assured that doesn't mean it's going to be super short, though! I plan for it to be a bit lengthier than the one for my previous story, **Confusion**!). So I'll simply say stay tuned!


	24. Epilogue

**Disclaimer:**You know the drill! I only own Lavender!

**A/n: **Before I say anything else, I want to say that I sincerely apologize for not getting this up sooner. I was, admittedly, deliberately taking my time writing this, just as I did with the last "regular" chapter, because I was reluctant for this story to end. I certainly never intended to take nearly five months to complete this, though! My goal was around three. But then my computer decided to die on me and I had to get a new one (fortunately, my hard drive wasn't damaged, so I was able to have a tech person retrieve my files- including this one- for me!). So I was without a computer for nearly a month (the new took it's sweet old time arriving, needless to say!). But anyway, I'm FINALLY ready to post this, and I hope you enjoy it! As always, a big thank you goes to my one reviewer for the last chapter.

* * *

><p>As September gave way to October, life began to settle back down at the factory. Now that her body was finally adjusting to no longer being pregnant, most of Ronnie's physical postpartum issues (including, much to her relief, her yeast infection!) were a thing of the past. At the same time, she and Willy were getting better and better at anticipating Lavender's needs throughout the day, enabling them to establish more of a schedule for her. The couple also now took turns doing the late night feedings (with her husband's support and encouragement, Ronnie had begun pumping as soon as her milk supply was established), allowing them both to get more sleep.<p>

All of these things helped lift the new mother's mood drastically...but not nearly as much as the weekly ritual she and her husband now shared. Every Thursday evening, just before Willy was due to stop work for the day, she and Lavender met him at his office. Once the confectioner finished whatever was left of his end-of-the-day paperwork (although Ronnie had her doubts as to how much he actually concentrated on it once his daughter was in his arms!), the couple would drop Lavender off at the Buckets (who were more than willing to baby-sit for a few hours!), then head back to their apartment and have a date night.

These generally consisted of a candlelight dinner, a movie, and what they affectionately called "naughty time" (the latter two, needless to say, often occurred simultaneously!). But those were just their "regular" date nights. One Saturday night toward the middle of the month, they left Lavender at the apartment with Sylvia (who had graciously offered to care for her granddaughter overnight) and went to Dessert Island for a mini, adults-only getaway! Somehow, becoming parents had made the couple's favorite spot in the factory even more magical for them, and they left the next morning feeling calmer and more refreshed (though they joked that they were probably just delirious from managing to get even less sleep than they did with the baby around!) than they had since before their daughter's arrival three months earlier.

It was a blissful joy that they thought nothing could possibly top...until October turned to November and the little girl that they swore had come into their lives "only yesterday" turned four months old. Now, you're probably wondering what made this "birthday" any more special than Lavender's first, second, or third month "birthdays". Well, it wasn't the actual event itself. Rather, it was what it had seemingly set off: the baby girl leaving the newborn stage behind and entering the most intense period of growth and development that she had experienced yet.

Now awake and alert for a good chunk of the day (rather than sleeping through the majority of it!), Lavender was eagerly taking in the world around her and rapidly accumulating new skills. These included rolling over, cooing and babbling, and practicing her newly perfected grabbing technique every chance she got (needless to say, necklaces and non-stud earrings were no longer part of Ronnie's daily wardrobe, and- when he wanted to wear one for work- Willy now put on and removed his bow tie at the office!). And she was growing so quickly that Willy and Ronnie swore that she was bigger each morning than she had been the night preceding it!

Much to her parents' relief, the littlest Wonka was also now more or less sleeping through the night (prompting Sylvia and Dr. Wonka to joke that there was no way that could be a genetic trait, since neither Willy nor Ronnie had cared much for nighttime sleep as babies!). For both halves of the couple, this meant finally feeling more like humans than zombies. And for Ronnie, it also meant being able to finally fully enjoy and bond with her daughter. Among other things, the duo's daily routine now included morning playtime and afternoon walks in the Chocolate Room.

As much as Lavender clearly enjoyed the new activities, however, there was one thing she enjoyed even more: her father's arrival home from work each evening. As soon as he opened the door and stepped inside the apartment, she would abruptly pull away from the "milk bar" (much to Ronnie's chagrin!), and happily grin and babble at him (the latter of which, the confectioner insisted, was her way of telling him about her day!). Then, of course, the duo would head to the nursery for their special father-daughter time.

This, too, had changed a bit now that the youngest Wonka was older and more aware. Father and daughter followed more or less the same routine they had since the latter had been born, but some aspects of it had "expanded" somewhat. Lavender's half diaper changes, for example, now doubled as play sessions (which consisted of a number of different games, including "This Little Piggy" and the duo's favorite, peekaboo!), and bath time had become decidedly more challenging for the chocolatier (who often joked that they ought to rename it "splash daddy time"!)!

And with Lavender having found her "voice" both of these activities were filled with what had quickly become Willy's new favorite part of the duo's nighttime ritual: father-daughter "conversations". These consisted, as you can probably guess, of the elder Wonka talking or singing and the younger babbling. Every now and them the candy maker would initiate one, but most of the time his little girl didn't need any prompting to show off her newest skill (on one occasion, he swore that she had even called him "dada", but Ronnie didn't quite believe him!).

There was no doubt about it, life in the Wonka household couldn't have been happier. Oh, things hadn't been perfect for the trio. Among other things, Ronnie had come down with a cold, which she had then passed on to Lavender. This had resulted in some rough nights for the baby girl and her parents (with one particularly bad one leaving her father so tired that he went to work with his hair uncombed, his spit-up rag still on his shoulder, and nearly ruined a batch of Strawberry Flavored, Chocolate-Coated Fudge by falling asleep in it!), and inevitably in Willy coming down with the cold as well. But overall, the little family was very much in a "honeymoon" stage.

In fact, one could say the entire "factory family" was very much in a "honeymoon" stage! Watching that tiny, precious life that Willy and Ronnie had created unfold and blossom had touched them all in ways that they could never have imagined. This was especially apparent as the eleventh month of the year drew to a close and they all gathered in the Chocolate Room to celebrate Thanksgiving once again. After a quick pre-dinner meeting, it had been decided that, since it was painfully obvious what they were all thankful for this year, they would return to their original tradition of having someone say a blessing before the meal. And everyone had been in complete agreement that Willy should be the one to do the honors.

The chocolatier tried to protest, insisting that he had never done such a blessing before and therefore didn't know how to do one properly. But Ronnie pointed out that there really wasn't one "proper way" to do a blessing, and assured him that as long as he spoke from his heart, he would be fine. So, after taking a few minutes to think, the candy maker remarked on how they couldn't have possibly had a better year. He gave thanks for everyone's health, for the good food they were fortunate enough to have at their table, for the fact that they were all able to gather together as a "family" once again, and finally for that year's greatest gifts: new life and the blossoming of a friendship into love.

It warmed his heart, he said, to see his father and mother-in-law so happy together. He marveled at how his father had seemed like a different man ever since getting engaged, and remarked that he couldn't have asked for a better stepmother, or the dentist for a better wife. Of course, he quipped, being married to her daughter didn't make him the least bit biased (making both women blush and everyone else laugh. Even Lavender seemed amused by what her father had said!). Then he talked about how fortunate he felt to be a father, and how watching his wife bring their daughter into the world had made him love and admire her even more. As if to drive that point home, he ended the blessing not with words, but by giving each of his girls a loving kiss (to a chorus of "awwww!"s and not one dry eye!).

**WWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW**

The joy and love that had filled the factory in abundance ever since Lavender's birth only increased as autumn turned to winter and everyone began once again to prepare for Christmas. The Wonkas, the Buckets, and the soon-to-be elder Mr. and Mrs. Wonka all hosted tree-trimming parties at their respective homes (though getting to and from Sylvia and Dr. Wonka's apartment- the dentist, who was now retired, had moved in shortly after they became engaged- without being noticed proved to be a challenge for the other families, to say the very least!). These were filled with laughter, carols, and plenty of Christmas goodies...the last of which were contributed primarily by Ronnie.

She had always loved to bake, especially at Christmastime. But now that she was a mother, she found herself enjoying it more than ever, and had eagerly assigned herself the task of providing nourishment for the hungry workers (although considering the amount of time they spent goofing around and cracking each other up- both intentionally and unintentionally- at the get-togethers, "gigglers" was probably more accurate!). More often than not, she and Lavender spent virtually the entire day in the kitchen. While Ronnie worked, her "assistant" sat in her highchair, happily babbling away and playing with her own wooden spoon, wire whisk, or other baby-friendly cooking utensil.

The merriest days of all were Sundays, because Willy didn't have to work and thus was free to join his "ladies" (as he affectionately called his wife and daughter) in the kitchen. He spent far more time playing with and cooing over Lavender than he did helping with the baking, but Ronnie didn't mind. Like her mother, she was a bit of a perfectionist when it came to baking and thus preferred to do so her own. Of course, there was also the fact that she couldn't resist the sight of her husband and daughter interacting!

For about two weeks, bliss reigned in the Wonka household. Then, as the saying goes, the other shoe dropped. Lavender's first two teeth decided to begin poking their way through her gums, turning the normally happy, sweet-natured baby girl into a drooling, screaming, cranky mess. For her parents, this meant long days filled with teething rings, biscuits, and a whole slew of other remedies suggested by the rest of the "factory family"…and seemingly endless nights of lullabies, rocking, and making so many trips up and down the hallway that they thought they were going to wear out the carpet!

Finally, on Christmas Eve morning, the adult Wonkas were greeted by a sight that made them both sigh with relief and chuckle: their daughter had quite literally gotten her two front teeth (her bottom ones, to be exact) for Christmas! The trio didn't exactly celebrate the milestone in style, though. They had a special but simple holiday breakfast (well, Willy and Ronnie did. Lavender had the same "nummy nums"- as her parents had affectionately dubbed her milk meals- that she did every morning!)…and then took a long mid-morning family nap!

**WWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW**

The rest of Christmas- and the rest of December- passed quickly and without too much fuss or excitement. Like the previous year, the "factory family" had decided to combine their group Christmas celebration with their New Year's celebration. This time, however, the party wasn't held on New Year's Eve. It was held on New Year's Day, and it was quite a bit different than the previous year's had been. For starters, the holidays played only a small part in the festivities. This was because the "factory family" had an even happier, more special occasion to celebrate.

Willy, Ronnie, and Lavender began their preparations shortly after breakfast, with another family nap. They woke around eleven-thirty, with Lavender having decided that she wanted her lunch a little early. Practically the second baby girl's tummy was full (with a special, early dinner planned as part of the afternoon celebration, her parents had opted to pass on their own midday meals), the apartment became a madhouse. The adult Wonkas dashed about, showering, dressing, fixing their hair (and in Ronnie's case, changing her earrings and putting on a little make-up), brushing their teeth, and getting their daughter bathed and dressed.

Of course, since they were getting ready for an important celebration, these things couldn't go smoothly and without incident like they normally did. Willy found out the hard way that his razor needed a new blade (fortunately, the injury was on the underside of his chin where- he hoped!- it wouldn't be noticeable), Lavender "thanked" her father for dressing her by immediately wetting her diaper, and Ronnie dropped an earring down the drain AND managed to get a run in of her stockings (which, naturally, she did not discover until after she'd put her shoes on!) among other things.

Finally, though, the family was ready (or at least, as they joked, as ready as they'd ever be!), and more or less satisfied with their appearances. Willy was wearing his best suit, Ronnie the same dress she'd worn when she'd married the chocolatier (though she'd had to have Skye, the Oompa Loompa dressmaker, modify the upper portion a bit to accommodate her markedly changed chest!), and Lavender a custom-made (by Skye, naturally) dress that matched her mother's. After one last check in the hall mirror, they headed off.

Their destination was the Wintergreen Room, and most of the rest of the "factory family" was already there when they arrived. Sylvia and Dr. Wonka, the only ones missing, weren't far behind. As soon as everyone was gathered, the Buckets and the Oompa Loompas formed a circle. Sylvia and Dr. Wonka stood in the middle, their children on either side (Ronnie stood next to her mother while Willy, holding Lavender in his arms, stood next to his father) and Spruce, the Oompa Loompa minister, before them. Spruce said a few words and then, with their family and friends gathered around them, the baker and the dentist made their vows to one another, binding themselves together as husband and wife.

**WWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW**

For the rest of the afternoon and into the evening, the "factory family" feasted, toasted, and danced in celebration of the newlyweds. Well, most of them did. Willy and Ronnie left after the first few dances (for the first of those, they danced with their new respective in-laws, the second they danced together, and the third Ronnie didn't dance at all. Instead, she practically melted as she watched her husband dance with their daughter!). They would have loved to stay longer, but Lavender made it clear that she was more than ready to leave.

Willy was the first to depart, insisting that his wife stay and have fun while he tended to their hungry, tired, over-stimulated daughter. Ronnie had no problem with this (and, truth be told, welcomed a break from baby duty!)…until the top part of her dress started getting damp. Realizing that she had waited too long to pump, she quickly excused herself and hurried to the glass elevator. Naturally, she had intended to head to her and Willy's bedroom and starting relieving her overflowing "milk factory" (as she affectionately referred to it!) as soon as she arrived at the apartment. Instead, she went to her daughter's nursery. And what she found there made her turn into a puddle for the second time that day.

Willy was sitting in the rocking chair, holding Lavender. Both were still wearing their wedding outfits, save for their shoes. An empty bottle lay on the candy maker's knee and a burp cloth was draped over his shoulder. His "little flower" was snuggled up against him, her head nestled in his chest. His own head was inclined downward, while his hand rested on the littlest Wonka's back. Smiling, Ronnie tip-toed out of the room, not wanting to disturb her husband and daughter…who were both fast asleep!

**The End**

* * *

><p><strong>An: **Well, as they say in the film industry, "that's a wrap"! It makes me sad to see this story come to an end, and I'm sure I'm not the only one. However, while I don't have any plans at the moment for another full story, I may write a few oneshots or mini-stories with these characters (particularly Willy and Lavender. I love writing about those two and the father-daughter bond they share!). You just never know. ;)


End file.
